This seems plausible but what are some examples of such “evil”? What happened to Enron, perhaps?
According to the official narrative, the Enron scandal is mostly about people engaging in actions that benefit themselves. I don’t know whether that’s true as I don’t have much insight into it. If it’s true that’s not what is meant.
It’s not about actions that are actually self benefitial.
Let’s say I’m at a lunch with a friend. I draw benefit most benefit from my lunch when I have a conversation as intellectual equals. At the same time there’s sometimes an impulse to say something to put my friend down and to demostrate that I’m higher then him in the social pecking order. If I follow that instinct and say something to put my friend down, I’m engaging in evil in the sense Vassar talks about.
The instinct has some value in a tribal context where it’s important to fight about the social pecking order but I’m drawing no value from it in the lunch with my friend.
I’m a person who has some self awareness and I try not to go down such roads when those evolutionary instincts come up. On the other hand you have people in middle management of immoral mazes who spent a lot of their time following such instincts and being evil.
According to the official narrative, the Enron scandal is mostly about people engaging in actions that benefit themselves. I don’t know whether that’s true as I don’t have much insight into it. If it’s true that’s not what is meant.
It’s not about actions that are actually self benefitial.
Let’s say I’m at a lunch with a friend. I draw benefit most benefit from my lunch when I have a conversation as intellectual equals. At the same time there’s sometimes an impulse to say something to put my friend down and to demostrate that I’m higher then him in the social pecking order. If I follow that instinct and say something to put my friend down, I’m engaging in evil in the sense Vassar talks about.
The instinct has some value in a tribal context where it’s important to fight about the social pecking order but I’m drawing no value from it in the lunch with my friend.
I’m a person who has some self awareness and I try not to go down such roads when those evolutionary instincts come up. On the other hand you have people in middle management of immoral mazes who spent a lot of their time following such instincts and being evil.