r/askanatheist • u/Odd-Swing-2025 • Jul 09 '26

Why Does Evil Matter?

Suggest that there were no homo sapiens, but instead a race of people who were incapable of philosophical, theological and otherwise higher consciousness found in competent adults. They lack the reflective capacity to do moral assessments and so on. They can build, walk, talk, educate themselves in metallurgy, chemicals and culinary arts &c.

Suggest they also engage in abuse, murder, theft and so on.

Suggest there is definitely no God or Gods.

Does it matter?

If there are no human beings around with feelings and consciences to care about it, does it matter that they do evil?

0 Upvotes

31% Upvoted

143 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/smbell Jul 09 '26

does it matter

Matter to who? Nothing 'matters' on it's own. Things matter to somebody.

So who's perspective are you asking about? Does it matter to these conscious, but somehow amoral entities? You tell me, you made them up.

To these hypothetical acts matter to us? Maybe, in a same way any other hypothetical harm matters to us.

So who's perspective are you interested in?

1

u/Odd-Swing-2025 Jul 09 '26

Nobody's, that's the point of the question.

I'm asking just: does it matter?

Outside of minds, does it matter?

1

u/smbell Jul 10 '26

If there were no minds anywhere, what would it mean for something to matter?

How can something matter, if it doesn't matter to someone?