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Ok, let's take this a step further Marshall Send a noteboard - 14/11/2009 09:45:50 PM
Suppose I murder someone, am tried, go to jail for 20 years. I am released. According to what you say, it's irrelevant whether I kill someone else now, since I'm already "evil." The number of additional people I kill is meaningless. I would argue that we classify "evil" based on the grief that it would cause. In the scenario I present, there would be an entirely new group of people (friends and family of the victim) grieving. The amount of harm I've caused to society is now double what it originally was.

With this in mind, what's the difference between committing two murders, separated by 20 years, versus killing two people simultaneously? The grief caused in both cases is equivalent, just one is disjoint time-wise from the other. In that respect, I'd say it is most definitely worse killing two people than one.

Note that I'm not referring in any way to killing one person in order to save two. I agree with you that doing so is unjustified (by the way, this is what Rand does, and you are defending him). However, you seem to think that the term "evil" is an all-or-nothing label, and once you are evil, the amount of damage you do to society is irrelevant. Wiping out a city or killing a single person--both evil!
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Rand is NOT evil in tGS, nor does he do any evil - 14/11/2009 12:26:27 AM 1426 Views
That is nonsense... - 14/11/2009 12:47:22 AM 816 Views
Re: That is nonsense... - 14/11/2009 05:30:01 AM 719 Views
So what? - 14/11/2009 09:28:49 AM 770 Views
Re: So what? - 15/11/2009 12:17:54 AM 699 Views
Laughable - 15/11/2009 03:36:36 PM 662 Views
Chasing you with an army is not hostile? - 19/11/2009 12:59:52 AM 570 Views
Sorry... gotta disagree. - 14/11/2009 01:09:30 AM 747 Views
Re: Sorry... gotta disagree. - 14/11/2009 03:49:49 AM 693 Views
Even if it's not thousands of lives. Stalin got it right. - 14/11/2009 05:33:05 AM 572 Views
I think the thousands would disagree - as would the one. *NM* - 25/11/2009 08:19:47 AM 266 Views
Mad, threatening, bad-tempered and cold, but not evil... - 14/11/2009 01:43:12 AM 675 Views
I disagree with prety much everything - 14/11/2009 03:10:12 AM 705 Views
Re: I disagree with prety much everything - 14/11/2009 05:45:14 AM 735 Views
Why in the world is quantity irrelevant? - 14/11/2009 06:01:13 AM 517 Views
A murderer is evil. What difference does it make how many? That's just degrees. There's no OK number - 14/11/2009 07:22:47 AM 624 Views
Ok, let's take this a step further - 14/11/2009 09:45:50 PM 575 Views
Re: Ok, let's take this a step further - 15/11/2009 12:23:05 AM 653 Views
Tried AGAIN? Serial killing indicates a tendancy. - 25/11/2009 08:23:39 AM 563 Views
Re: I disagree with prety much everything - 14/11/2009 04:35:27 PM 711 Views
I think you're confusing "evil" with "risky" - 15/11/2009 12:48:21 AM 730 Views
Re: I disagree with prety much everything - 15/11/2009 07:04:16 AM 605 Views
What Rand did that was evil. - 14/11/2009 04:06:17 AM 654 Views
I don't see Arad Doman - 14/11/2009 04:57:20 AM 572 Views
Take up the Dragon's burden... - 14/11/2009 07:56:46 AM 763 Views
A wonderful commentary on 'nation building' too, I suppose - 14/11/2009 08:22:46 AM 754 Views
Priorities. - 14/11/2009 07:52:06 AM 727 Views
Perhaps - 14/11/2009 09:43:51 PM 759 Views
Re: Perhaps - 24/11/2009 08:28:56 PM 674 Views
I don't think he was evil - 14/11/2009 08:10:56 AM 697 Views

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