Looking for a Word
Expressing the heartfelt belief that people who are obese are evil.
"Evil" is perhaps the strongest form of this belief, but it nevertheless seems to encapsulate this attitude toward the obese.
The components of "evil" in this case include a lack of "will power", a disgusting appearance,
Furthermore, "evil" is not simply a characteristic of a person or thing. People and things may be responsible or horrendous or destructive acts, but they are not considered "evil" unless these acts are backed by an intention to cause hurt or outrage as the goal of these acts. Dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima may not be considered evil by some because its use was not simply intended to cause radiation sickness, but was rather intended to end the war. If one accepts the second intention as the true one, then one may argue whether its use was excessive or otherwise justified, but the question of evil is not at the top of the list.
The appelation of "evil" may be a circular one, along the lines of "I know it when I see it", but most human beings seem able to distinguish between "mere Sadism", the infliction of pain solely for the pleasure of the one inflicting the pain, and other reasons for inflicting pain.
But another significant component of this "evil" is that people hold this belief. In other words, these characteristics are considered "evil" rather than "mere facts".
Perhaps the belief in any type of evil is itself an attitude that cannot be changed, or is at least terrifically resistant to change. After all, something evil is something that should not be lightly put off.
Nevertheless, the attitude that obesity is "evil" is one that ultimately reduces to something along the lines of "your appearance, your existence, offends me, and I intend to tell others that this is so."
In this sense what may appear to be bigotry boils down to "a strongly held opinion different from one's own." If this is the case, then the problem may include, (1) "I don't agree", (2) "I don't have an opinion because I don't know the case", (3) "You're harping on this point is boring", (4) "This is not a point of reference we share, therefore I have a difficult time having an opinion on it".
"Evil" is perhaps the strongest form of this belief, but it nevertheless seems to encapsulate this attitude toward the obese.
The components of "evil" in this case include a lack of "will power", a disgusting appearance,
Furthermore, "evil" is not simply a characteristic of a person or thing. People and things may be responsible or horrendous or destructive acts, but they are not considered "evil" unless these acts are backed by an intention to cause hurt or outrage as the goal of these acts. Dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima may not be considered evil by some because its use was not simply intended to cause radiation sickness, but was rather intended to end the war. If one accepts the second intention as the true one, then one may argue whether its use was excessive or otherwise justified, but the question of evil is not at the top of the list.
The appelation of "evil" may be a circular one, along the lines of "I know it when I see it", but most human beings seem able to distinguish between "mere Sadism", the infliction of pain solely for the pleasure of the one inflicting the pain, and other reasons for inflicting pain.
But another significant component of this "evil" is that people hold this belief. In other words, these characteristics are considered "evil" rather than "mere facts".
Perhaps the belief in any type of evil is itself an attitude that cannot be changed, or is at least terrifically resistant to change. After all, something evil is something that should not be lightly put off.
Nevertheless, the attitude that obesity is "evil" is one that ultimately reduces to something along the lines of "your appearance, your existence, offends me, and I intend to tell others that this is so."
In this sense what may appear to be bigotry boils down to "a strongly held opinion different from one's own." If this is the case, then the problem may include, (1) "I don't agree", (2) "I don't have an opinion because I don't know the case", (3) "You're harping on this point is boring", (4) "This is not a point of reference we share, therefore I have a difficult time having an opinion on it".
posted by Godel at 5:47 PM
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