selfishness, greed and sin Flashcards
What evidence against greed?
“you cannot serve both God and money” (matthew)
What do buddhists believe about greed?
wrong as it is one of the three poisons
What did Adam smith argue about greed?
that individuals pursuing their own greed serves the greater good e.g. covid vaccine
What did epicurus believe about greed?
greed was based on a misunderstanding of the simplicity of human desires - our desires can be satisfied with simple pleasures from the absence of pain
What is evidence for selflessness?
“greater love has no-one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” - John
What did St Augustine believe about sin?
pride (which is a form of selfishness) is the root of all sin that resulted in the fall
Who was a thinker for psychological egoism?
Thomas Hobbes
What evidence for ignorance?
“father forgive them, for they know not what they do” - Luke
What did Aquinas believe about ignorance?
human beings have an infallible grasp on basic moral principals (synderesis)
but our judgement on certain situations (conscientia) can be corrupt so everyone does what they believe is right
What did socrates believe about ignorance?
nobody knowingly does wrong as no-one does harm to themselves and doing wrong harms you
What is Augustine’s view of sin?
original sin that came from the fall; humans are inherently sinful which can only be cured through the grace of God
this means that war, genocide and conflict is a result of man’s inherently sinful nature
What did Richard Swineburne argue about sin?
- humans have an inate proneness to sin
- which stems from strong selfish desires part of our evolution
- therefore we are inclined to do wrong
this does not actually result in orginal sin though, and doesn’t mean wrongdoing is inevitable
What did Aquinas argue about human wrongdoing?
it stems from disobeying God’s prupose for us
this is revealed through natural and special revelation
What did Sigmund freud argue about the inevitability of war?
we have a ‘death instinct’ which is responsible for injustice and violence and life is a war between life and death instincts
What did Jesus believe about violence?
“love eachother as I have loved you”
the fact that Jesus commanded this means it must be possible (Kant)
