How can an atheist call Hitler evil?

2m read

·Nov 8, 2024

Andrew made a video, uh, in which he asks the question to atheists, was Hitler evil? Um, I think the gist of his question is the idea—uh, the idea behind it is that, uh, because atheists don't have a universal sense of right and wrong, can they condemn Hitler?

And, uh, the main thing to mention here is that atheism doesn't imply moral relativism. Atheists can and do believe that actions can be objectively right or wrong. So, the question was: was Hitler evil? Um, for me, the answer depends on the sense in which you're using the word evil.

Um, if a person who carries out morally wrong actions is evil, then yes, I think Hitler was evil. Uh, but on the other hand, if you're asking whether Hitler was under the influence of some false nature, uh, that gives rise to wickedness and sin, uh, then I don't think Hitler was evil and I don't think anyone else is.

Um, so you say atheists do not have a concept of good and evil; they do not believe in a universal concept of right and wrong? Um, that's not necessarily true. Um, so here are some ethical frameworks: utilitarianism, ideal observer theory, uh, egoism.

So, subscribers to these frameworks don't believe in gods, but they do believe that a particular action can be objectively right or wrong. So, the actions of Hitler, uh, would be condemned by subscribers to each of these theories.

Uh, there are some differences in—well, there are differences in, uh, the way subscribers to these theories would reach the conclusion that Hitler's actions were wrong, but they would all conclude that they were, in fact, wrong.

Um, I hope that answers your question. [Music]

Integrated pest management| Land and Water Use| AP Environmental science| Khan Academy

Magnetic Micro-Robots

View All

Projectile motion graphs | Two-dimensional motion | AP Physics 1 | Khan Academy

So in each of these pictures, we have a different scenario. We have someone standing at the edge of a cliff on Earth, and in this first scenario, they are launching a projectile up into the air. In this one, they’re just throwing it straight out. They’re …

Measles Explained — Vaccinate or Not?

Recently there has been a lot of talk about measles. What does measles actually do, and should you vaccinate against it? Or is this just hysteria? Measles is a virus: a hull of proteins, RNA, plus some more proteins for reproduction. It cannot reproduce …

Limits at infinity of quotients with trig | Limits and continuity | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy

So let’s see if we can figure out what the limit as x approaches infinity of cosine of x over x squared minus one is. And like always, pause this video and see if you can work it out on your own. Well, there’s a couple of ways to tackle this. You could j…

LearnStorm Growth Mindset: Dr. Michael Merzenich on growing your brain

But we’ve actually trained athletes, you could say, on the sort of academic side of training you would not necessarily imagine. And guess what? It improves our performance on the field. What’s happening for a couple of reasons. One reason is that you’re …

Analyzing tone through word choice | Reading | Khan Academy

Hello readers! I suppose it’s time if we have to talk about tone. You see, if I were feeling snide or dismissive or sarcastic, I’d use a lot of disdainful language to talk about how little I value this topic, which is a piddling trifle, a bag of tell, a t…

Anxious | Vocabulary | Khan Academy

Oh boy, oh geez, wordsmiths, I’m not feeling so hot about this word. I tell you what. The word is anxious, or if you prefer, anxious. It’s an adjective that means very worried. You might have seen it in its noun form, anxiety, which is the state of being …

How can an atheist call Hitler evil?

More Articles