20 There are no "bad people"

Published: Aug. 25, 2020, 1:24 p.m.

"I confess, I do not know what it would mean for somebody to be a "bad  person." I do know what it means for somebody to be bad at achieving  the goals they set for themselves. I do know what it means for someone  to be good at pursuing goals that I dislike. I have no idea what it  would mean for a person to "be bad."

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I know what it means for a person to lack skill in a specific area. I  know what it means for a person to be procrastinating. I know what it  means for a person to be acting under impulses that they don't endorse,  such as spite or disgust. I know what it means for someone to fail to  act as they wish to act. I know what it means for someone to hurt other  people, either on purpose or with a feeling of helpless resignation.

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But I don't know what it would mean for a person to "be bad." That  fails to parse. People don't have a hidden stone deep inside their brain  that is either green or red depending on whether they are good or bad.  "Badness" is not a fundamental property that a person can have. At best,  "they're bad" can be shorthand for either "I don't want their goals  achieved" or "they are untrained in a number of skills which would be  relevant to the present situation"; but in all cases, "they are bad"  must be either shorthand or nonsense."

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Original post: http://mindingourway.com/there-are-no/

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Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com

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Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com

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Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.