In this paper, I will argue that guns aren’t considered as evil. I will determine what evil really means, distinguish and elaborate the things that is considered as evil. A lot of people are confused with what being evil really means and how will you consider it as something evil.
This paper will focus on the main issues:
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- Should we use the term ‘evil’ in our moral, political, and legal discourse and thinking, or is evil is a term that is out-dated or has an empty concept which should be something that we shouldn’t use?
- What is the connection of evil to wrongdoings?
- What is the purpose of guns?
If guns were made for made for security and order, therefore it is helpful for the public. Let’s say, law enforcement and the military uses guns that helps to enforce the law imposed by the government in order to make sure the peace goes on to protect the people. Thus, it may be said that it is helpful to the public for their own protection. In contradictory, if guns are evil as it promotes death and conflicts such as the wars that happened for the past hundred years, how many times you look at it, we can say that this claim is problematic considering that guns are inherently inanimate objects, hence, it may be asked “Who holds the will to cause death and conflict?” Since a gun is an inanimate object, it requires an animate object to use it — which is the people (society).
To understand the argument even more, we must first know what being “evil” really means as well as what is the purpose of a gun.
The Concept of Evil
The concept of evil started during the World War II period when the philosophers have become increasingly interested in this. It is important for us to know that there are two concepts of evil: the broad concept and the narrow concept. We can say that it is a broad concept in the sense that there is a wrongful action that has been happening. Evil in a broad concept can be divided into two categories: the natural and moral evil. Natural evil is something that causes pain and suffering to humanity while moral evil is caused by human activity. How can we say that it is considered as a broad concept of evil? It is when we already intentionally hurting or harming other people in order for us to be satisfied.
On the other hand, let us define the purpose of guns. According to research, guns were made for killing. As stated by (Filipovic, 2012) “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” To be more specific, we can really say that guns have killed a lot of human beings yet, we all know that’s what they are designed to do. Now, can we say that guns are evil?
In my opinion, objects cannot be considered as something evil. The actions and intentions are parts of what makes something that was done good or evil. To help me prove my point, here is an example situation:
- Situation 1: John uses his gun to murder someone, therefore John is evil; not the gun.
- Situation 2: John uses his gun to protect his family from harm; therefore John is the one who’s good; not the gun.
To further elaborate, the gun has something to do with the person who controls it. What I mean by this example is that the people can be the one to observe or differentiate what is good from what is evil. Can we say that being evil is connected to wrongdoings?
The Connection of Evil to Wrongdoings
According to the Socratic perspective, nobody willingly chooses to do wrong, they just don’t have a choice but to do it. However, how do we know if it’s already wrong? People tend to do evil since they don’t know the difference between what is good from what is evil, yet for sure if they do know what is good, they will surely choose to be one.
On the other hand, what do we mean by wrong? We could say that something is wrong when it’s immoral and inappropriate. Let us all be aware that the meaning of right and wrong varies from time to places. Some would say that a certain thing is right yet for you it isn’t. Say for example you saw a kid who is stealing from a grocery store, you may say that it is wrong but for him it’s not because he is not aware that stealing is an inappropriate behaviour. In this way, we could see that wrongdoing is the result of ignorance. In this situation, we may conclude that being knowledgeable enough about things lead you to goodness and evilness is caused by ignorance. However, sometimes, knowledgeable people still do things that could harm others but the difference is; they are aware of it.
Overall, it may be said that people do evil things to satisfy their own desires.
The Purpose of Guns
Guns are capable to protect and also kill people and since it’s being used in an intended purpose, it is evident that it could harm other people easily. Although we could say that the guns itself don’t kill people, people do, guns made it easier for them to kill people. Additionally, guns wouldn’t be useful for anyone else unless to those who intentionally wants to do evil. Guns are capable of harming people so can we say that guns are illegal? Obviously it’s not. Perhaps, guns were made to make holes in other people yet it doesn’t you the right to do so.
Conclusion
Some would say that guns are evil. But no, guns are objects and they can’t be distinguished as good or evil. Being evil means that you intentionally want to cause suffering to others and in this case, we could say that guns aren’t inherently evil. It will always depend on the person who controls it. Objects are things and they wouldn’t function unless used or directed to do so.
I remain convinced that a certain action is evil if it goes against your purpose or beliefs. Therefore, it is a proof that evilness cannot be inherent to an inanimate object such as guns. As such no object is evil unless it is being manipulated by a person.
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