Frivolity Of Evil

In the "Frivolity of Evil" article, Theodore Dalrymple's main point of argument was that social, economic, and ideological pressures result in the likelihood for someone to make bad decisions later on in his or her life and become unhappy. The author declares that "a man's evil is not entirely to be measured by its practical consequences." This means that someone, more specifically here, a criminal, cannot simply pay the price or debt of a crime, simply by fulfilling their sentence in prison. This article was very well written, going into the depths of why a person may commit evil or be unhappy. He argues that people are in fact "flawed in the heart," which leads them to behave in a depraved fashion in the Frivolity of Evil. As the article continues, Dalrymple expresses how "the word depression has almost eliminated the word and even concept of 'unhappiness' from modern life." This caught my attention because what Dalrymple is trying to say is that nowadays people claim to be "depressed" more than they claim to be "unhappy."

Dalrymple supports all his claims in the article by giving great examples. When the author stated that hardly anyone claims to be unhappy, he is saying this with experience. He has met and seen many patients as a prison psychiatrist, allowing him to retrieve all this information and research, making these connections. He later concludes saying that these patients are not depressed, they are unhappy due to their lifestyle and pressures that are put upon them. His research supports that the environmental pressures and decisions made by a child's parents may lead to the child to then make those similar mistakes. 

As stated in the Frivolity of Evil, "The evil is freely chosen." I agree with all of Dalrymple's points such as man's evil is not entirely measured by the consequences, people do what they can get away with when the barriers of evil are brought down it flourishes, one's state of mind should be independent of the way one lives one's life, and people become unhappy because of the situations they live in. After understanding the author’s stance and message in this article, I agree and can completely understand where he is coming from. I do agree that a prisoner who has committed a very painful crime, cannot simply pay off this debt of hurt, just by spending time in jail. No amount of jail time would suffice the pain and hurt caused to the victims. I also agree with the fact that most people do what they can get away with. If a person has the opportunity to cheat on something he/she needs help in, he/she will try to since they have a huge chance of getting away with it. Evil is kept within certain barriers and when those are broken down, it thrives. When Theodore Dalrymple says that evil flourishes when its barriers are broken, I agree with his statement since the only reason people follow rules and don’t commit injustice is because of barriers. Lastly, I agree when the author says that people are unhappy due to environmental pressures rather than being depressed. They are feeling this misery because of the way they live and the choices the people close to them make. 

One thing interesting that Dalrymple said was "Men commit evil within the scope available to them." This statement relates to what Plato said in chapter one where man chooses to commit evil when given the power and freedom to do so. Dalrymple and Plato both agree that evil is mostly committed only when conditions allow it to flourish. As Plato described in the Ring of Gyges myth, when someone has the opportunity to commit a crime and break laws, he or she will do so. Plato and Dalrymple would be able to agree on the fact that the fear of punishment contains us to obey and follow the laws that are set in front of us. In both, the Ring of Gyges myth and The Frivolity of Evil, the authors state how it is human nature to seize opportunities where they can commit injustice, with power and authority. Plato talks about how people, when given the choice to, will choose to commit injustice on a grand scale.

Another statement from the Frivolity of Evil that Theodore Dalrymple says is "they are unhappy because they have chosen to live in a way that they ought not to live." This reminds me of the way St. Thomas Aquinas says man should live in chapter five. In this chapter, Aquinas states that to be happy, one must follow four natural inclinations. These are self-preservation, procreation and rearing of offspring, living in society, and knowing the truth about God. He states that to live well, mankind must live by these four natural inclinations. This is relevant to the topic discussed by Theodore Dalrymple in Frivolity of Evil. Dalrymple talks about how depressed people are not depressed, they are just merely unhappy due to outside consequences. In this article, it talks about how people put themselves in certain situations that lead them into this misery. If these patients followed the natural law made by Thomas Aquinas, these people would be able to avoid so many hardships and live a happy life with justice. Both the authors of Frivolity of Evil and the Natural law can agree that these patients are living an unhappy life due to their own mistakes or the mistakes made by those close to them. These errors have led them to choose the path of evil and cause injustice around them. 

The Frivolity of Evil discusses many important topics and the author, Theodore Dalrymple, goes over them with excellence. He goes deep into how evil is a choice and not a requirement. Dalrymple talks about how human nature is to be evil and one will choose the wrong choices in life because of the things that happen around him/her. One is unhappy because of the way he or she chooses to live life and the evil choices one makes in one's life are chosen freely.