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Articles / Re: The Ethics of Lavos
« on: May 05, 2006, 08:21:09 pm »
To define something as "inherently evil", there must be the concept of "evil"...I, from a genuinely relativistic standpoint, think there is no concept of "absolute" evil, but only a "relative" evil. Lavos is "relatively" evil to humans, just as humans are "relatively" evil to other living beings.
Getting rid of "anthropocentrism", phenomenon which unfortunately occurs too often when we "humans" are involved, the "relative" evil here must not be searched in "Lavos vs humans", but in "Lavos vs Earth", because, as shown many times in the Chrono series, the Earth itself(or perhaps herself) is considered a living being(according to the famous "Gaia theory") just as humans are: in fact, we humans and all other terrestrial lifeforms are Earth's cells, while Lavos is a "parasite", or, even fitter, a "virus", as it is using the "Earth"'s collective genetic patrimony in order to accomplish its goals, its survival and reproduction. Even deeper, humans are "corrupted" cells, infected by the virus Lavos which guided their evolution. If a concept of "evil" must be searched, it must be the broadest possible: then it must be relative to "Earth". From this viewpoint, Lavos is evil, but even humans, at least partially, are(as "progeny of Lavos"); if we instead view the situation from Lavos' point of view, it is pretty clear that Lavos is only assuring its "survival and reproduction", as we do manipulating and eating cows and other animals, no matter what they feel.
Reasoning on the very human level on which evil is bound with choice, Lavos cannot be judged evil either.
I think there is no proof in the games to sustain it isn't following a "survival pattern", but instead it is "choosing" to do it(for whatever reason). Lavos is nothing more than a "survival machine": it is only doing the "right" things at the "right" time to assure its "survival and reproduction". It is a perfect example of the "selfish gene" theory, a "survival machine". Granted this, there is no way to demonstrate Lavos is "good" or "evil", even if we consider these principle exist, as it, as a machine, has no choice. The question of the existence of "choice"(granted for sure in the Chrono series), instead, is another subject, and I can't discuss it now as it would take too much time and "space".
Regarding humans, instead, they are perhaps the "evilest"(from many, many viewpoints...) lifeform on the Earth, both in the Chrono universe and in ours(well, in ours, it's certain
): we are savagely destroying the Earth's resources without reasoning on the impact this mindless destruction has. We are different from every other lifeform on the planet because we(forgive the "new ageish" expression) are not bound to it anymore. We are, from the Earth's point of view, a cancer cell, a mad cell which has taken control over the body...only to follow a dream, different from the Earth's.
Getting rid of "anthropocentrism", phenomenon which unfortunately occurs too often when we "humans" are involved, the "relative" evil here must not be searched in "Lavos vs humans", but in "Lavos vs Earth", because, as shown many times in the Chrono series, the Earth itself(or perhaps herself) is considered a living being(according to the famous "Gaia theory") just as humans are: in fact, we humans and all other terrestrial lifeforms are Earth's cells, while Lavos is a "parasite", or, even fitter, a "virus", as it is using the "Earth"'s collective genetic patrimony in order to accomplish its goals, its survival and reproduction. Even deeper, humans are "corrupted" cells, infected by the virus Lavos which guided their evolution. If a concept of "evil" must be searched, it must be the broadest possible: then it must be relative to "Earth". From this viewpoint, Lavos is evil, but even humans, at least partially, are(as "progeny of Lavos"); if we instead view the situation from Lavos' point of view, it is pretty clear that Lavos is only assuring its "survival and reproduction", as we do manipulating and eating cows and other animals, no matter what they feel.
Reasoning on the very human level on which evil is bound with choice, Lavos cannot be judged evil either.
I think there is no proof in the games to sustain it isn't following a "survival pattern", but instead it is "choosing" to do it(for whatever reason). Lavos is nothing more than a "survival machine": it is only doing the "right" things at the "right" time to assure its "survival and reproduction". It is a perfect example of the "selfish gene" theory, a "survival machine". Granted this, there is no way to demonstrate Lavos is "good" or "evil", even if we consider these principle exist, as it, as a machine, has no choice. The question of the existence of "choice"(granted for sure in the Chrono series), instead, is another subject, and I can't discuss it now as it would take too much time and "space".
Regarding humans, instead, they are perhaps the "evilest"(from many, many viewpoints...) lifeform on the Earth, both in the Chrono universe and in ours(well, in ours, it's certain
): we are savagely destroying the Earth's resources without reasoning on the impact this mindless destruction has. We are different from every other lifeform on the planet because we(forgive the "new ageish" expression) are not bound to it anymore. We are, from the Earth's point of view, a cancer cell, a mad cell which has taken control over the body...only to follow a dream, different from the Earth's.
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