I am perplexed by this question, and have been for decades... can an animal (not human animals) such as a cat, for example, take pleasure in the pain of others.. actually realize that they are hurting and enjoy the feeling of it. I believe not. I think it's almost entirely exclusive to human beings. I think it's what makes us truly different from the other inhabitants of the world, and what makes us so capable of destroying it.
if we destroy the world we destroy ourselves too.. that wouldn't be too intelligent... yet we call ourselves intelligent species.... so destroying the world would be totally illogical, yet it is what we do, so yes, we are evil.
I think the more intelligent the animals is the more capable of aggression without logical cause is. I'm not an expert. I remember to have seen some documentaries where killer whales were playing with their prey making it suffer a lot before killing it. In general animals, always seem to have a logical explanation for their behaviour and aggressions. Including humans I guess.
But the Universe itself is evil. We are slaves of its illogical quantum laws.
Hedac here is a difficult question for you. You might even say its a trick question.
Can an animal be capable of evil?
easy 100% yes.. since humans are animals too.
but... to answer with precision, we would have to discuss what is the definition of evil?
Evil, where without falling back into the philosophical problem of evil, which is more of a theocratic debate.
To me evil, is an act of aggression without a logical cause.
Regarding Humans being Animals, of course I agree.. But I was being more pragmatic about it.
So, lets exclude them.
I am perplexed by this question, and have been for decades... can an animal (not human animals) such as a cat, for example, take pleasure in the pain of others.. actually realize that they are hurting and enjoy the feeling of it. I believe not. I think it's almost entirely exclusive to human beings. I think it's what makes us truly different from the other inhabitants of the world, and what makes us so capable of destroying it.
Even pillows can be evil sometimes hehe ;)
if we destroy the world we destroy ourselves too.. that wouldn't be too intelligent... yet we call ourselves intelligent species.... so destroying the world would be totally illogical, yet it is what we do, so yes, we are evil.
I think the more intelligent the animals is the more capable of aggression without logical cause is. I'm not an expert. I remember to have seen some documentaries where killer whales were playing with their prey making it suffer a lot before killing it. In general animals, always seem to have a logical explanation for their behaviour and aggressions. Including humans I guess.
But the Universe itself is evil. We are slaves of its illogical quantum laws.