People argue back and forth over
good and evil. First, one needs to recognize the difference between the two. To
be good is to be desired or approved of whereas to be evil is to be immoral or malevolent.
Personally, I believe everyone has a combination of both, based on the
situation the person is in. Emotions can cause people to act a certain way as
well. Through the use of pathos, I will explain how people possess the elements
of goodness and evilness.
Fritz Haber started off working for
the Chemistry Section in the Ministry of War for Germany. Haber, “The Father of
Chemical Warfare”, took part in developing chlorine and other poisonous gases
during World War I. Haber was also a part of the Degesch Corporation, which
produced the hydrogen cyanide-based Zyklon B gas used to kill millions in gas
chambers during World War II. To Fritz Haber and Nazis, this was important and
necessary, but to others this was pure evil. This was considered good for the
world and healing. On the other hand, the mass murder of people, no matter for
what reason, is considered immoral to others, because one would feel
emotionally moved by such an atrocity. During the circumstances of World War I and
II, Fritz Haber was under the impression he was making good choices when in
reality they were evil.
Later on in life, Fritz Haber went
on to winning a Nobel Peace Prize for actually performing a deed for the
greater good. Haber figured out a way to pull nitrogen out of the atmosphere,
to make bread out of the air, and feed the world. In this circumstance, people
were content with Fritz Haber, because he managed to save lives. Haber manage
to save a countless amount of people, yet at the same time he managed to take
part in killing a countless amount of people.
At the time Fritz Haber was being
considered a life saver, he was also being considered a murder; he was good man
and an evil man at the same time, due to different circumstances and emotions.
According to Hayao Miyazaki, “Evil is
natural- it is innate in all humans.” Miyazaki feels the same as I do; people
can be good just as easily as people can be evil, because it is natural,
therefore one can be approved of and malevolent at the same time. Someones character depends on the situation and the emotions
at the time, “see the good in which that is evil, and the evil in which that is
good.”
Ethos/Pathos ?
ReplyDeleteI agree that people have a combination of both good and evil, but what separates the good people form the bad people is what each individual decides to be. Within our hearts and minds is a constant battle between the light and dark in ourselves. We must make a choice whether or not to give in to the temptation, selfishness, and hatred (devil), or to take the harder path, to be strong, faithful, and compassionate (God). It is so much easier to hate than to love someone who has wronged us. Evil is the easier path because it takes zero amount of strength to resist the natural default setting. Goodness, greatness, is immensely more difficult to achieve when under the same circumstances. To be "good" we have to go out of our way to restrain ourselves and remind ourselves that we have to be the better person and choose greatness, to overcome the pressures and temptations of evil and hatred. I think that's why people respect the story of Jesus. In Mathew 5:44, Jesus says, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Of course not everyone follows these words, but it is a decision to make and what we decide depicts if we are truly good or not.
In Fitz Harber’s case, I feel that he was initially a good person. His intentions were to literally solve world hunger, make an efficient bug repellent, and to defeat his country’s enemy. He had absolutely no intention of using the Zyklon to kill his own fellow Germans and Jews. After he was aware that he could not work with his team because they were Jewish he immediately left. He could have stayed and completely changed the whole outcome of WWII in Germany's favor, but he knew where he had to draw the line. I know that he used that chlorine gas to kill those enemy soldiers and yeah that seems awful, but what is the difference between them dying of gas or a bullet? He was trying to be a patriot for his country that he loved and he wanted to defend it. What he did then is nothing to what America has done to its enemies. We dropped a freaking bomb on Japan, killing Japanese civilians. I guess that Hayao Miyazaki is somewhat right when he says that we “must see with eyes unclouded by hate, to see the good in that which is evil and the evil in that which is good.”
I have to agree that as humans we have to potential to be good and the potential to be evil. The evil in us is always there, it can not be taken out of us, but it can be controlled. Hayao Miyazaki says that in order to control the evil inside of us, we have to live the life of a hero and learn to see a life without hate. I have to agree with Hayao Miyazaki on that statement . However it is hard to live a life without hate at points. Also from listening to the podcast, I saw how power can sometimes make the evil come out of humans. Fitz Harber only wanted to help the world when he combined nitrogen and hydrogen helping feed the world. After he did this however, he created a chlorine gas that killed many American soldiers. The power of wanting to always do better got to his head and whether he noticed it or not at the time, the evil in him arose quickly. Fitz Harber let his power go to him very quickly and he ended up losing his family. I don't think he intended on becoming evil however just as quickly as he did something good, he did something bad. After his wife committed suicide, he left his thirteen year old soon at home alone as he went to the war front and killed more American Soldiers.
ReplyDeleteIn life people have the power to control their potential to do good and their potential to do evil. However controlling it is not always easy. Fitz Harber had a hard time seeing what was evil and what was good. And Hayao Miyazaki easily said to control evil, you have to see a life unclouded with hate. These are both two things that are hard to do twenty-four seven. Everyone has good and evil in them but it is what you do with it rand how you learn to control it.
Kelsey, you make some great points but I disagree with your initial statement about people being good or evil (or maybe good and evil like in the case of Fritz Haber). Good and evil don’t have to do with the beings, whether their personality or their character or their identity, but rather in their actions. The actions in and of themselves are evil or good depending how they affect other sentient beings: either harmfully or beneficially. If one tries to label another human being as good or evil, one ultimately comes down to the summation of their beneficial actions versus the summation of their harmful actions towards others. Analyzing the readings via Logos, which is logic, we can see that the author of “The Flawed Concept of Good vs. Evil” appeals to the reader’s intellect by defining specific aspects of current comic films and then proceeding to analyze why they are flawed via the future consequences of those films. However, I agree with your analysis of “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Fritz Haber” via pathos. MPR, it seems to me, really enjoys playing with the emotions of the audience. They do these by using sound affects to make feel goosebumps. For Example, when they talked about the Holocaust, there was a pause and dramatic, sad music in a minor key played in the background. MPR also enjoys using Ethos when introducing the speakers. For instance, “Whoever is a historian and a specialist in studying Fritz Haber.” But overall, you have a thought provoking post and I enjoyed you’re concluding quote!
ReplyDeleteLogos and Ethos
DeleteIn the flawed concept of good vs. evil, I totally agree with what you and the author is saying about how evil and being good is completely natural. It is a part of our human composition to turn either way depending on situations that we are put in. This is also why I believe that our great military men and women who go to war can do things that we consider evil, even though they left as good people. In Haber’s case even though he made a great discovery, he did not use it how he should have and killed hundreds of people. Even though this was a war the thing that truly makes us consider this wrong is how he celebrated his doing and watching those people suffer. It is described that he “played dirty” with his findings. He gets promoted to captain even though he killed all of these people in such a horrific way. Haber’s evil doings actually made his wife kill herself, and after this happens he leaves his young son with the dead mother, and kills himself. Haber in his own way was also a good man, even though some things that he did could make him see otherwise. I think he was so deep into the war that he did things that are not considered morally correct. Similar to how Miyazaki claims good and evil are natural to all humans, it was natural in Haber and each was shown through all of the different scenarios he had to face.
ReplyDeletePeople in this world have the choice to be either good or evil, but I believe people can be a combination of both. The good and evil in someone is mainly influenced by their surroundings and emotions. Fritz Haber, being a jew scientist, saw how people were going hungry and that made him strive to create a solution to stop world hunger. By combining nitrogen and hydrogen, he created ammonia, which made it possible to grow wheat/bread "out of thin air," as the podcasters said. As WWI came, he figured out a way to use ammonia to defeat the enemies. His intentions were only for good but as he succeeded, he became brainwashed/empowered with power, making him leave his thirteen-year-old son behind with his dead mother without ever looking back. When WWII approached, his Zyklon A gas, which was a bug pesticide that was harmless to humans, was recreated to Zyklon B and used to kill the jews in concentration camps. All Fritz wanted was to help others but it all lead to disaster and misery. While Hayao Miyazaki states, "...evil is not something can never be conquered or defeated," he says that it can be controlled, but in order to control it, "you must learn to see with eyes inclouded by hate. See the good in which is evil, and the evil in which is good." In other words, we need to see that there can be evil within good people and good withing evil people and keep the balance that exists between the two. It's our choice if we decide to be either good or bad in this world.
ReplyDeleteafter listening to "how do you solve a problem like Fritz Haber, i can't help but feel bad for the guy. Yes, he was responsible for the deaths of many in WWI and WWII, but he was only serving his country. I feel that if there were any americans who had the opportunity to serve their country as he did, they would take it in a heart beat. Germans are a proud people, as are Americans. And anyone who was serving their country would be proud. In the TED talk we watched in class, we see what American soldiers are capable of. Are we in any position to judge Haber when our own soldiers are torturing and humiliating prisoners? There is the potential of evil in everyone, and depending on who is the observer, it could already be present in some. Evil has the ability to slowly creep in and over power someone, even when they feel they are doing whats best for the situation. For example, Anakin Skywalker. When the Sith lord offered him power in order to either save his true love, or bring her back after sea died, he takes the offer because he wants to do whats best for her. He is seen as evil to most people who watch the movie, but in reality, he just wants to make the most of the life they share. Nothing can be pure evil. Buried deep within, or even just under the top layer, there is always a glimmer of hope. There is always that one ounce of good left. In Haber, there was good, however, it was masked by gas to the Americans. Although his wife saw what he was doing as evil, he believed it was good, and it was. It was good for his country, and it was good for what he was fighting for. Immoral? Yes. But not evil.
ReplyDeleteI too believe people are both good and evil. I will use logos to support my claim. In the pod cast, they explained how a man wanted to help feed the world. This man's name was Fritz Haber and he eventually did. He figured out that if he put Hydrogen and Nitrogen into a pressurized container, it would produce Ammonia, and from that they were able to produce wheat. This process was called the Haber process. With this process, they were able to feed millions of people. This is a good thing, but at the same time, he was able to take this process and turn it into something evil. Reversing this process can cause major devastation and from the reversal came Chlorine Gas. He used this process during WW1 and killed thousands of people; this good thing he created was turned into something evil. At the time he saw this as a good thing. The world was in a war and his country was being attacked. He made something that would protect his people, even though it killed thousands of people, he believed it was good. When he created the Haber process, he was deemed a hero and was presented with a Noble prize, but at the same time he was deemed a war criminal because others saw the potential harm and power that came from the good. I think people have the choice to be good instead of evil. We all make "evil" choices. We all make "good" choices. I think people who are considered good can easily change and the same with "evil" people, like what Miyazaki said in the picture. I think Haber thought of himself as the classic "hero", the prince in shining amor, here to save Germany. I agree that evil can not be taken out of this world because it is a natural thing. There has always been evil in the world, just like there was always been good.
ReplyDeleteEthos
ReplyDeleteAt the ending of "How do you solve a problem like Fritz Haber", one the storytellers ends it by saying "maybe it's all about doubt in the end". Doubting whether what is being done is right (good) or wrong (evil). To persuade that it depends on who we are exactly and what we do. I do agree also that people are a combination or good and evil. In Haber's case, they said he was a guy that just wanted to do everything, which was feeding or killing, better than what have been done before. Haber made a way to be able to feed people but also made a way to help his country in which people took different opinions of. People can doubt whether his doing was either good or evil. In Hayao Miyazaki's illustration, he states that evil is natural, it is innate in everyone. "See the good in which is evil and the evil in that which is good." Whatever good is being done has some effects to it as to evil can be done to benefit in some ways. Everyone has both. As in How do you solve a Problem, there are "Crafts...crafts with consequences".
Pathos
ReplyDeleteI can also agree that everyone has a combination of both but what really intrigues me is how imbalanced that combination can be with certain types of people and what it is that makes that imbalance, or even people that were balanced with their sins and good doings that just totally turn around into deviants. What causes these imbalances and how are we just able to turn from our natural behavior that was placed upon us since birth by our parents? What I believe is that everyone in life is told to do "good" but its until reality strikes that doing "good" isnt always the best outcome for what YOU believe your situation would be, so instead our minds are sidetracked from the teachings of our parents.