Reply #28: "Good" and "evil" are artificial labels [View All]

[Orrex]

They result from cultural and societal conventions, just like standards of beauty and ugliness.

1) Do you believe in the concept of Absolute Good and Absolute Evil or do you believe in Moral Relativism ?

Moral relativism is the only position justifiable by the limited capacity of our brains. We simply have no way to perceive "absolutes" of good or evil, if they even exist, because we can't know that our perceptions of these "absolutes" are valid.

At best, we can identify a person or an action or a behavior as consistent with our personal/cultural/societal notions of good and evil, but that's hardly the same as identifying a true absolute.

2) Do you believe that Evil should be killed or do you believe it should be redeemed ?

It may sometimes be necessary to kill the person who behaves in a manner that soceity deems "evil," but IMO the killing is only justifiable when the "evil" person presents a current and immediate threat. If the person is rendered harmless (by incarceration or the like) then soecity is not justified in killing him or her.