Radical evil is a phrase used by German philosopherImmanuel Kant, one representing the Christian term, radix malorum. Kant believes that human beings naturally have a tendency to be evil. He explains radical evil as corruption in a human being that takes over them entirely. It has their desire acting against the universal moral law. The outcome of one's natural tendency, or innate propensity, towards evil are actions or "deeds" that subordinate the moral law. By Kant, these actions oppose the universally moral maxims and displayed from self-love and self conceit. By many authors, Kant's concept of radical evil is seen as a paradox and inconsistent through his development of moral theories.
Origin
The concept of Radical evil was constructed by Immanuel Kant and first explained thoroughly in Kant's Religion within the Bounds of Reason Alone in 1793. There Kant writes: This concept has been described as a Kantian adaptation of the Lutheran "simul justus et peccator."
Categorical imperatives
is the foundation of morality in which Kant uses to create the phrase Radical evil. Kant characterized morality in terms of categorical imperatives. Cl is described as boundaries that you should not pass regardless of our natural desires. We are expressed to have obligations in following these principles because they derive from reason. When one acts against Cl then one is seen to act irrationally and therefore immorally.
Propensity of Evil vs. the Natural Predisposition of Good
To be morally evil is to possess desires that causes one to act against good. To be radically evil, one can no longer act in accordance to good because they determinedly follow maxims of willing that discounts good. According to Kant, a person has the choice between good maxims, rules that respect the moral law, and evil maxims, rules that contradict or opposes moral law. One that disregards, and act against moral law, they are described to be corrupted with an innate propensity to evil. Propensity is explained as a natural characteristic of a human being that is deemed non-necessary. Propensity therefore is distinguished as a tendency, or inclination, in one's behavior to act accordingly or opposed to the moral law. This propensity to evil is the source of one's immoral actions and therefore entirely corrupting one's natural predisposition of good. Since this has corrupted them as a whole, the evil is considered to be radical. This is not saying that being radical is a concrete mindset, the propensity of evil can be revised through what is described to be a "revolution of thought" which reforms one's character through moral agents that practice universal ethics.
Incentives in Humanity
Kant states that human willing is either good or evil, it is either one or neither. Human willing is considered good if one's action respects the moral law. There are three incentives in humanity in which we align our willing with, animality, humanity, and personality. Kant's concept of human freedom is characterized by three predisposition of human beings:
Enlists the existential drive for "self-preservation", one's sexual drive for breeding, the being preservation towards their child that is birthed through this breeding, and finally their "social drive" with other humans.
The propensity "to gain worth in the opinion of others." Through this predisposition, "jealousy and rivalry" is produced through beings hence incentives culture.
One's likeliness to follow the moral law.
Inconsistency in Ideas
Kant's inconsistency of his moral theories are pointed and argued by many authors. Kant changes his supporting arguments and claims in his work that some philosophers found as "scandalous", "inconsistent", and "indecisive." From this, Kant's idea of radical evil is seen deviant and an undeveloped concept that does not support his overall ideas of ethics. Even though his development is seen as inconsistent, it is argued that his concept of radical evil align with his ideas of human freedom, the moral law, and moral responsibility
