What makes an Evil person Evil?

[LeopardTheGreat]

Originally Posted by OldGrumpyBear

Upon some further thought, would it be correct to define evil as a state of being inhuman?

I don't believe so. Inhuman acts shouldn't be classified so quickly as evil. This could be a good example of how evil depends on opinion while inhumanity depends on the actions of humanity.

Inhuman behavior can be easily categorized as being based off of the actions of humanity. If the majority of humanity recognizes something as evil, and all of humanity commits these "evil" acts (say it was a part of our nature to do them), then would said acts be inhuman? If we change our opinion of evil into something that is permanent and unchanging, then we can replace "something recognized as evil" with "something that is evil", we reach the same question. If evil acts are committed by humanity as a part of natural behavior, then can we claim such acts to be inhumane?

[Akbd]

Originally Posted by OldGrumpyBear

Upon some further thought, would it be correct to define evil as a state of being inhuman?

The people who are the most evil seem like they're not human anymore. An unrepentant murderer, for example, or a rapist. These people have to kill off all or part of their own humanity to do what they do. When you're no longer a human, but a monster driven by base desires, isn't that the essence of evil?

I am not sure about this. These are heinous things but there must have been something that drove a person to do it, and all actions are backed by some reasoning. Albeit it maybe flawed or twisted.