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What makes someone a bad person?

Renz Envy

Renz Envy

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Sep 29, 2010
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I'm curious. It's a highly subjective topic, however I find that people have varying viewpoints on their idea of evil, corruption and overall neglect for empathy.

Would being a sociopath make you a bad person?

What if there are sociopaths who, with common sense, give off a false air of empathy for other people for the sake of their own personal gain?
 
^thats just arrogant - haha - wanting to be jaded.

i consider a true sociopath by nature pretty complex. most people who just want to make themselves feel better, by being a jerk and gaining off others, most often find a better way to do so eventually.

sociopaths do contribute, but if they are allowed to be feed power then wtf do they care who feeds them? Greed and the abuse of power, or the strive to do just that, self centered gain at others expense is pretty bad on many levels.
 
I think in itself sociopaths destroy themselves all the time. It becomes increasingly more apparent the more power they're given. Therefore a smart sociopath could alter their ego slightly in hopes for playing the game a little smarter.
 
Renz Envy said:
I'm curious. It's a highly subjective topic, however I find that people have varying viewpoints on their idea of evil, corruption and overall neglect for empathy.

Would being a sociopath make you a bad person?

What if there are sociopaths who, with common sense, give off a false air of empathy for other people for the sake of their own personal gain?
Click to expand...

There are. Most sociopaths are incredibly smooth people, and learn early to cop the look and tone of an empathetic person, when the situation calls for it.

I really think you've hit it -- the essence of a bad person is being in this life entirely for yourself, and not really caring who you hurt or exploit to get what you want. If getting your way takes priority over building and preserving relationships with other people (and other sentient beings), you probably are not a very good person.

What often comes up in this discussion is the issue of culture. It's easy to say what I just said in the last paragraph when both me and most of my audience comes from a culture that teaches that all people are equal. I'm preaching to the choir. Things get more complicated when you deal with someone from a culture with a stricter vertical hierarchy, or a stronger in-group/out-group distinction, in which different standards apply to different people, relative to where you stand with them. Still, even in these cultures, I think it's possible to treat someone out-group or of lower status than yourself with mercy and consideration, rather than causing them unneeded hardship.

When I'm judging how good a person is, I watch their interactions with people that they don't need to be good to. If someone is abusive or exploitative of someone who isn't in a position to do anything about it, then I deem their niceness to everyone else purely instrumental, rather than heartfelt or done on principle
 
Its a subjective assertion whether a person is good or bad; and frankly its a poor dichotomy (good/evil), for even sociopaths can be "good" since some vices when used correctly shine brighter than virtue itself (Dr. House (in the initial seasons) can be called a sociopath, but he is indispensable to the medical team), while the qualities generally thought when speaking of someone "good" could make that person ineffectual and prone to being taken advantage of. All is dependent on circumstances, for no one knows if someone does a good action because he wants to, or because he can benefit from it. We need to go beyond "Good and Evil".
 
Pindar, Dr. House is a misanthrope, not a sociopath. He doesn't like people (with a few exceptions), but he doesn't live life at others' expense without remorse. He cares, but he's bitter that 99.99% of humanity is not up to his standard of rationality, and therefore can't relate to most people. The same can be said about Sherlock Holmes, a character who was a major inspiration for House.

Junior Soprano is a better example of a fictional TV sociopath.

I do see your point, though. One career where sociopaths are appreciated is the military. I once knew a Marine who told me that during Basic Training, the commanding officers seek to identify the recruits who have sociopathic tendencies. They put these people on the front lines if there's ever a battle. First, because they know these people will pull the trigger. Secondly, because they will be killed in action, and eliminated from the population. And a good time is had by all.
 
^oh god...speaking of Dr House...my cat ate a slug last night -
+ auto immune = bad bad bad.

agreed MDOA
House's character slips up and shows plenty of compassion often..haha.

healing is tough,,, and watching people die is too, so being able to disconnect, and keep ones walls up, you know, invitation only...is a good idea.
 
Who's worse, the person with good intentions but who does things to hurt people, thinking they are helping them (i.e. the Catholic missionaries of the New World in the 17th century), or a person with negative intentions, but lets people know they are only in it for themselves and keeps their words and actions in line with that aim? Or a person who does genuinely good things, but is just power hungry and manipulative, or a person who is incompetent and has really hurt people due to that failing, but doesn't wish them any harm? A person quick to anger, or a person cold and calculating? A person who lies to protect people's feelings, or a person who always tells it like they see it?

Comparisons are odious....I guess the answer is that we all have our tastes...

Are you suggesting that the ability to communicate empathy is the measure of one's goodness?
 
MyDoorsAreOpen said:
Pindar, Dr. House is a misanthrope, not a sociopath. He doesn't like people (with a few exceptions), but he doesn't live life at others' expense without remorse. He cares, but he's bitter that 99.99% of humanity is not up to his standard of rationality, and therefore can't relate to most people. The same can be said about Sherlock Holmes, a character who was a major inspiration for House.
Click to expand...

The thing is that we can come at that conclusion because we, as the audience, are privileged observers of Dr. House's life: we know his past, his experiences, and his legitimate reasons for his misanthropy (Moliere's The Misanthrope has a famous passage by the misanthropic character which states "I see nothing but cowardly flattery, injustice, self-interest, impostures.."), but casual people who meet him and are confronted by his unconventional methods (and the way he treats Dr. Wilson sometimes) and his acerbic commentary would generally judge him as a sociopath. And thats one of the reasons why we cant cant really give a judgment on whether a person is good or bad the same way we can say that this person has black or grey hair; since its all dependent on context and circumstance. But I agree Dr. House in his portrayal should not be described as a sociopath.
 
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Neglect can make a bad person, altho my answer is not in the same context as most of the posts I've scanned I think it valid.
How to fix badness created by neglect is a whole other topic, maybe worthwhile ?
 
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