Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Susa-no-o 06-19-05, 04:23 PM	Hey all, I'm writing a paper for a psychology class about evil and I was going to use the PHB defenition of the different alignments to help. Theres LG which is like a strict honorable person, NG who just fights evil when they come across it (?) CG who break the rules to do good when they have to, LN who have their own idea of right an wrong (?) CN who do whatever they like, LE who do evil when it doesn't break a code or law, NE who do evil if they think they can get away with it, and CE who do eveil for the sake of evil. Is that right?
JohnnyShotMe 06-19-05, 04:53 PM	LG = Fight for the benefit of people within the limitations of law and/or personal moral code (Red Cross) NG = Fight for the benefit of people without regard to legal or moral restrictions (WW2 Resistance fighter) CG = Fight for the benefit of people, especially when laws etc are preventing the greater good (Robin Hood, Nelson Mandela) LN = Uphold the laws of the land and/or the moral code of the individual, regardless of intent for good or evil (U.S. legal system) N = Do whatever you want, based on the fact that you want or need to do it ("Victimless" crime committers who rob banks to feed their 8 children) CN = Laws and codes are ways of systematically holding a person back. Evil or good does not matter, but repressive things must be fought against (Free society thinkers) LE = Intentionally works to be a detriment to other people in general or simply to gain at their expense, but will do so within the confines of law or personal moral code (Emporer Palpatine) NE = Does evil for evil, complying with laws when convenient...disregarding them when not (Satan (will try to persuade you into his direction, wants to guide the evil not simply let it loose)) CE = Absolute and complete anarchy, with overall goal to harm other people (Psycopaths) Keep in mind "alignment" is in the eye of the beholder. A WWII resistance fighter would likely be CE in the mind of some Nazis or CG in the mind of those Nazis who knew of the full extent of the Holocaust. Satan, depending on how you view things, could be CE if you felt he also sought to undermine order. The problem with interpreting alignment is instead of this... ...................LAW.................. G....................................... .E O....................................... .V O....................................... .I D....................................... .L ..................CHAOS................ people see this..... LAW/GOOD............................ ........................................ ... ........................................ ... ........................................ ... ........................................ ... ............................CHAOS/EVIL Just keep in mind the difference between INTENT and METHOD. The accepted intent of the American Revolution was good, but the method was illegal (chaotic). Most of the Declaration of Independence is written to make the revolt, though illegal according to law, a legal endeavor as far as the natrual law of man. This is because, throughout history, controlling forces such as governments have tied "good" with "following our laws" and "bad" with "going against our rules". Nelson Mandela, back in the day, was CG because he fought against a set of laws which were repressive. His intent was good, though. Now, he is likely LG, having changed many of those laws he now is a part of the ruling set of people who want everyone else to do as they want them to. His intent remains the same, but time has given him the power to pursue those ends on a fashoin that is currently legal. EDIT: Also, keep in mind some people seem to think LG is "more good" than CG, or that CE is "more evil" than LE. This is due to the dual force law vs chaos and good vs evil can have on our perception. The chaos + evil acts as a double strength negative in our minds, and therefore allows the lawful evil person to have his "crimes" somehow mitigated by adherence to law or a code.
Susa-no-o 06-19-05, 05:00 PM	thanks for the help. I do have to point out, however, that psychopaths are not chaotic evil. They are in fact neutral evil. They are not crazy killers like everyone believes. They are people who are incapable of empathizing (put themselves in other people's situation) and are often compulsive liars, cheaters, etc. They are extremely manipulative. It is estimated that everyone will meet at least one psychopath in their life. Another sign that someone is a psychopath is that they have to move around alot because they manipulate people and anger them so much that it would be dangerous for the psychopath to stay in any one place for more than a year. Creepy eh?
JohnnyShotMe 06-19-05, 05:04 PM	LOL well yah, but I had trouble coming up with a good CE example. Most of those who purposefully hurt other people generally are trying to gain power over them in order to exert control over them. Complete and utter anarchy is a little counterproductive to those ends. Maybe if an alien race just wanted to turn Earth into one big gladiator event, that would be CE. :)
Andrew_980 06-19-05, 09:21 PM	jeffry Dahmer is CE, all he cared about was himself.