Week 2- Evil Intent vs. Evil Action

This week, we focused on the concept of evil once more but in regards to the readings we had previously done. Many interesting concepts had come up in our discussion, but one of the ideas that provoked the most reflection for myself was the distinction between an evil act and an evil intention, as well as what other factors come into play. Even further, I thought about the Milgram example discussed in social psychology, based upon the concept of obedience. A perfect example of this is in Baumeister (2001), who gives the example of Hyun Lee, a North Korean woman who was a member of the military. When she was asked by the leader of her country to bomb a South Korean airplane to prevent them from hosting the Olympics which would reunify Korea, she did as she was told. It was pointed out, however, that although she did not immediately feel remorse for her actions, she soon did. Further, her actions were brought on by the leaders of her country whom she trusted and the ideals that were instilled in her. This brings up the questions then: were her actions evil or her intent? Or were both evil? Was the fact that she was obeying an authority figures demands, make it okay for her to conduct this act?

I personally think based on this example that Hyun Lee’s actions were evil, but not her intent. She did feel remorse for her actions, which based on week 1’s discussion, was something an evil person could not do. Further, she was doing what she believed was best for her country and her family, and this was not done out of malice for others. She does have her own moral responsibility to do what is right, which I believe makes her actions still evil and why she should still take responsibility for the actions she had done. It definitely creates a divide, and there can be multiple different views on whether her intent was evil, and if not, if this makes someone an “evil” person. What do you think?

On this idea of evil actions versus evil intent, I found an interesting media piece that I think captures this idea quite well. Staub (2020) posted about the roots of good and evil, and what makes an individual commit acts like these. He speaks on the idea that people need to satisfy their basic psychological needs, such as having an understanding of the world and having security within their nation. When these needs are not met by an individual, people can turn to others and their ideals, such as what occurred in the Nazi regime. This relates back to Hyun Lee and her violent actions, and may be one way to examine what was occurring in her mind during that time. He also speaks about how individuals change when they harm others, and if there are no restraining factors they can justify the harm they had done. In Hyun Lee’s example, however, she was caught and was able to reflect on her actions to feel guilt about the wrong she did. To be able to help heal after perpetrating violence, Staub (2020) discusses understanding the roots of evil to be able to move towards positive behaviour. Hyun Lee was able to understand the acts she had committed and why they were wrong when looking back and this allowed her to plead guilty and feel actual remorse towards her actions.

This interview Staub (2020) conducted, provided different views on the psychological aspects that are involved with these evil acts, and how it is not necessarily someone just performing an evil act, but instead there are a multitude of different reasonings behind these acts. I think that is especially important when examining this concept of “evil”, to be able to see why each individual may commit these acts.

In addition to these ideas, the article I found further demonstrates this dilemma of whether there are purely evil actions or evil intent. Passini (2017) speaks to the extent that intergroup relationships, and obedience, impact an individual’s ability to conform to the acts occurring. In Hyun Lee’s example, she was conforming to the prejudice her leader put upon her, which is an excellent example of how obedience led her to do these evil actions. The concept of “banality of evil” is discussed, which is where evil actions are perpetrated without thought due to obedience of an authority figures own demands. This occurred in Hyun Lee’s example of the bombing of the plane. It was discovered in the study that individuals who experienced indifference to parliamentary bills being conducted, were more likely to submit to authority, be more conventional and have subtle prejudices. These individuals can support policies of their government that they may not normally agree with, based on these traits. This all comes back to Hyun Lee bombing the plane due to an authority figure’s own demands and not her own ideologies.

Overall, evil actions and evil intent are very different from one another and need to be distinguished from each other when discussing the concept of evil. Hyun Lee may have committed an evil act, but her intent was not to do such a thing, and had her country’s best interest at heart. This makes her example extremely hard to comprehend, and evokes a negative response in many individuals. When you look at the concept of obedience, however, this can help to explain how an individual can commit an act, so incredibly evil, while not having the same evil intent.

References:

Baumeister, R. (1997). Evil: Inside human cruelty and violence. New York, NY: W.H. Freemand and Company.

Passini, S. (2017). Subtle prejudice and conformism: The intergroup indifference. International Journal of Psychological Research, 10(1), 25-34. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.lib.trentu.ca/10.21500/20112084.2338

Staub, E. (2020, January 6). This is how one man has spent his life studying the roots of good and evil. Thrive Global. Retrieved from https://thriveglobal.com/stories/this-is-how-one-man-has-spent-his-life-studying-the-roots-of-good-and-evil/