: I think this excludes the possibility that they could be
: evil, but still have reasons for their actions (not
: "just because"). I'm trying to think of more
: examples of characters that are evil and yet acted for
: reasons, under some kind of justification: the Sheriff
: of Nottingham? Lady Macbeth? What made these
: characters evil was not that they lacked
: justification.
Lady Macbeth was acting for ultimately selfish motives. The Sheriff of Nottingham, on the other hand, was doing what he perceived to be his duty in the battle to preserve order.
: Actually, it's quite a fascinating question what makes
: somebody evil or good. I don't think it has to be the
: same in every case. A great deal of literature is
: devoted to that task--to figuring out what good and
: evil are.
: Here's another consideration: just because a wrong has
: been done to you, that does not mean that you are
: justified in righting the wrong. It may be that
: whoever wronged you deserves to be punished, yet it is
: not YOU that has the right to punish them. An example?
: The fact that we don't consider vigilante justice
: appropriate in this society. Someone that mugs you
: deserves to be punished, yet it's not you that has the
: right to punish them, but the state.
Or at least, that's what the state tells us. This is in the interests of the state, since it can't rely on all of its citizens to exact merely just retribution (distinct from revenge in that retribution is proportional to the deed which triggered it, while revenge may not be.) The fact that a government may not approve of just retribution being carried out by someone other than itself does not make it wrong.
Forrest said that, from the government's point of view, the aim is to prevent the crime form happening again. In fact, that's not entirely true: there's five main aims as far as the government is concerned. To deter other people from committing the crime, to protect the victim of the crime, to reform the criminal (and, in doing so, make sure he doesn't commit the crime again), retribution, and vindication (by upholding a law, you make the assertation that it is right. Not doing so creates a double standard, and may lead people to question the government in other matters.)
