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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 1429 Views
That is nonsense... - 14/11/2009 12:47:22 AM 819 Views
Re: That is nonsense... - 14/11/2009 05:30:01 AM 721 Views
So what? - 14/11/2009 09:28:49 AM 772 Views
Re: So what? - 15/11/2009 12:17:54 AM 701 Views
Laughable - 15/11/2009 03:36:36 PM 664 Views
Chasing you with an army is not hostile? - 19/11/2009 12:59:52 AM 573 Views
Sorry... gotta disagree. - 14/11/2009 01:09:30 AM 750 Views
Re: Sorry... gotta disagree. - 14/11/2009 03:49:49 AM 695 Views
Even if it's not thousands of lives. Stalin got it right. - 14/11/2009 05:33:05 AM 574 Views
I think the thousands would disagree - as would the one. *NM* - 25/11/2009 08:19:47 AM 267 Views
Mad, threatening, bad-tempered and cold, but not evil... - 14/11/2009 01:43:12 AM 678 Views
I disagree with prety much everything - 14/11/2009 03:10:12 AM 707 Views
Re: I disagree with prety much everything - 14/11/2009 05:45:14 AM 738 Views
Why in the world is quantity irrelevant? - 14/11/2009 06:01:13 AM 519 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 626 Views
Ok, let's take this a step further - 14/11/2009 09:45:50 PM 577 Views
Re: Ok, let's take this a step further - 15/11/2009 12:23:05 AM 656 Views
Tried AGAIN? Serial killing indicates a tendancy. - 25/11/2009 08:23:39 AM 566 Views
Re: I disagree with prety much everything - 14/11/2009 04:35:27 PM 712 Views
I think you're confusing "evil" with "risky" - 15/11/2009 12:48:21 AM 733 Views
Re: I disagree with prety much everything - 15/11/2009 07:04:16 AM 606 Views
What Rand did that was evil. - 14/11/2009 04:06:17 AM 656 Views
I don't see Arad Doman - 14/11/2009 04:57:20 AM 575 Views
Take up the Dragon's burden... - 14/11/2009 07:56:46 AM 765 Views
A wonderful commentary on 'nation building' too, I suppose - 14/11/2009 08:22:46 AM 756 Views
Priorities. - 14/11/2009 07:52:06 AM 729 Views
Perhaps - 14/11/2009 09:43:51 PM 762 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 699 Views

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