Dr. Drew Pinsky, speaking this morning on HLN's Raising America program, said something I found philosophically intriguing. On the topic of Jodi Arias, convicted May 8 of premeditated first degree murder, he said:
Here's the deal. She has documented Borderline Personality Disorder. It's just like... we can't argue about that. It's like saying if we did a blood test and her hemoglobin was low you're going to argue about whether she's anemic. She has, by definition, that disorder. The question though that people have is, oh she must be evil though. And people need to think very carefully what they mean by evil. She did a despicable act. The question is... is that because she has some sort of life long problem with her very character makeup like a psychopathy where she doesn't care about other people, doesn't appreciate other people have feelings, and is really only interested in acting out...Here, my DVR timed out and I was unable to review and transcribe the rest of what he said. But, in essence, he went on to explain how psychopathy is many times the equivalent of what we tend to think of as "evil" and that he believes Jodi Arias does suffer from some level of undiagnosed psychopathy in addition to Borderline Personality Disorder (just as I've been saying for some time now). In the next program segment, Pinsky continued:
Day before yesterday I was feeling sympathy, compassion for Jodi. I've been in many situations where I'm asked to really connect with and sympathize with and share the feelings with someone who's done terrible things. People who have mental illness, people who do awful stuff, they suffer because of it. They feel terrible because of it. Doesn't mean it's okay what they did. Doesn't mean they shouldn't suffer the consequences... [interrupted by the host]
Evil
adjective
- morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life.
- harmful; injurious: evil laws.
- characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous: to be fallen on evil days.
- due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character: an evil reputation.
- marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.: He is known for his evil disposition.
- that which is evil; evil quality, intention, or conduct: to choose the lesser of two evils.
- the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin.
- the wicked or immoral part of someone or something: The evil in his nature has destroyed the good.
- harm; mischief; misfortune: to wish one evil.
- anything causing injury or harm: Tobacco is considered by some to be an evil.
[Source: dictionary.reference.com]
Murder certainly fits the definition of an evil deed and Jodi Arias was found guilty of committing a murder. During the trial we also learned she performed other actions many would consider "morally wrong or bad." But here's the philosophical dilemma:
Is a mentally ill person who commits an evil deed or deeds an evil person?
How many evil deeds does a person need to commit to become an evil person?
Can an evil person ever be socially redeemed by doing good?
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