Chieftain Twilight
False Dichotomy
Chieftain Twilight
False Dichotomy
Chieftain Twilight
I have to disagree. I think Darth Vader is an example of Lawful Evil; he clearly believed in the nessecity of established order and rules, and that he was doing the entire galaxy a favor by helping palpatine to dominate it. he believed that his place was right beneath the ultimate ruler, with everyone else below him. he believed that if everyone had a place and knew what that place was, that everything worked like clockwork, than the galaxy was a better place.
that is Lawful Evil by definition.
Chaotic Evil means self-freedom above all else. it means self-gratification before anything else. it means violence and anarchy for the sake of it, or for teh fun of it, or just cause.
Evil is a description of actions, not really motives. And yes, Vader eventually became lawful evil, but that was after he became a sith, not right when he went all dark-jedi.
I don't think so. morality isn't all action-based. it is a mixture of actions and intent. it has to be, if we are using an alignment system. actions don't trump intentions.
Actions always trump intent. Let's say you find a way to resurrect the dead, but it requires you to sacrifice 100 people. Resurrecting your lost lover would be considered good, but the price is evil. No matter what, the ends do not justify the means. Evil is through evil actions, just as good is through good actions. All intent, and no actions would make you very neutral.
actually, there ARE behaviors which would be blatantly and specifically neutral. furthermore, I still say that any alignment-shift that an action or behavior causes is the end result of totally the action and intent.
this may be a philosophical debate we will never agree on, but from the logical standpoint that I have reasoned it, actions alone do not dictate moral values.
If I were to judge an alignment I believe I would treat it as a mathematical equation and take many things into consideration.
Action, intention, result, reaction, emotional response to the previously listed parts, and desire. Sometimes people do make mistakes so although the intention may be good, such as bringing back a loved one from the dead, a person may be misguided or even manipulated into making mistakes. Killing 100 people for the sake of one loved one is a pretty big mistake, but the intention was to bring back the loved one.
So in that example I'll try making the mathematical equation...
Action (killed 100 people) + intention (bring back loved one) = result (100 people dead, loved one revived.)
Reaction (let's say the person realizes his mistake and begins searching for a way to bring back those 100 sacrifices) + emotional response (likely depression if the person realizes what he's done) = desire (correct mistake).
The math may be considerably more complicated with real life examples. Since this is all hypothetical I just made it up as I went along and, being tired, we can expect flaws in the equation. The point of my post is that the story continues beyond action and intention. Sometimes people, blinded by emotion, won't realize what they have done until later. See dramatic theatrical realization reaction as prime example; *falls on knees while looking upward in dismay* "WHAT HAVE I DONE!?"