I have obvious reasons for taking the "No one is evil, rapists/Nazis/serial killers were all just abused as children" arguments very personally. (Also, it is objectively not true. Though you can't prove a negative, so maybe all Nazis were abused and no one knew. Statistically, however, it is unlikely.)
Certain types of criminals, yeah, they pretty much all were abused. But what about mean girls? What about us, when we did something wrong? I have; you have. Was my wrong action because I was abused, while you made a free choice? What about the good that we did; is mine more praiseworthy, because I was abused? Or does only one of us have any free will, and the other is an automaton?
(Obviously, I am a very strong believer in free will. There are obviously many times when it's constrained. But even within constraints, people make choices and those choices are still meaningful. So maybe you really don't have life choices that make "don't commit crimes" an option. But take two drug dealers, and one might be going out of his way to wreak havoc and be cruel to everyone he meets, while the other might be violent to protect his interests but isn't crossing the street to kick puppies. That there is a meaningful choice. All else aside, it matters to the puppy.)
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Date: 2016-04-19 09:30 am (UTC)Certain types of criminals, yeah, they pretty much all were abused. But what about mean girls? What about us, when we did something wrong? I have; you have. Was my wrong action because I was abused, while you made a free choice? What about the good that we did; is mine more praiseworthy, because I was abused? Or does only one of us have any free will, and the other is an automaton?
(Obviously, I am a very strong believer in free will. There are obviously many times when it's constrained. But even within constraints, people make choices and those choices are still meaningful. So maybe you really don't have life choices that make "don't commit crimes" an option. But take two drug dealers, and one might be going out of his way to wreak havoc and be cruel to everyone he meets, while the other might be violent to protect his interests but isn't crossing the street to kick puppies. That there is a meaningful choice. All else aside, it matters to the puppy.)