Root of Human Evil

Revenge seems to be motivated purely by self-interest and ego. It is the root of human evil because revenge is the emotion of anger plus the desire for destruction. It is for people who are hurt and wish to hurt back. I stumbled upon a site, the Selected Works where this paper entitled, "Revenge" by Robert J. Stainton discusses what revenge is in a preliminary manner.

It comes up with four elements of revenge; an agent, a recipient, a harm intended by the former, and a harm done by latter which provokes the revenge. It emphasizes both agent-internal conditions for getting revenge and agent-external ones. You'll see along the way that the discussion would contrast revenge onto related phenomena like getting even and retribution.

"Philosphers have considered whether revenge is inevitably a bad thing; they have also considered whether it is irrational. (See Elster 1990, Unicake 2000, and references sited there.)"

In contrast, Robert Stainton focus will be on a related but more on a distinct issue that one cannot be ignored when revenge is being evaluated.

Stainton wants to investigate the act of getting revenge for both the mental state and the external result. He is so sure that some things can be vengeful too. He said that people can be vengeful as well as people's products. He said that a vengeful law is made to get vengeance and a vengeful weapon is a fashioned so as to get revenge. But his focus on this paper are not about vengeful things but the act of getting revenge. 

According to Stainton, seeking to harm someone in response to a bad thing they did to you is not yet to seek vengeance. You supposed to seek harm a person so they won't harm you again. He called it deterrence and not revenge.

Another article that I found in Union College website entitled, "Punishment and Revenge" by Leo Zaibert.

"Philosophers tend to believe that to punish and to take revenge are vastly different activities. Consider the ancient view put forth by Protagoras, in Plato’s Protagoras:

No one punishes wrongdoers putting his mind on what they did and for the sake of this – that they did wrong not unless he is taking mindless vengeance, like a savage brute. One who undertakes to punish rationally does not do so for the sake of the wrongdoing, which is now in the past – but for the sake of the future, that the wrongdoing shall not be repeated, either by him or by others who see him or by others who see him punished."

Philosophers have different views and approach in regards to revenge but some philosophers believe that it is a bad thing, and wrongdoings are not to be repeated. People see vengeance as a way of proving that they’re not weak and in order to prove that, they take control of another’s life, the one who took control of them. Vengeance is simply hurting the people who hurt you for you to feel better. It brings out the worst in you and maybe come to a point where you do major things like killing. You hurt people who hurt you because you think that they also deserve that. However, there’s a common question between revenge and justice being the same thing. In philosophy, when somebody tries to seek for vengeance, they want to make things right and make the person who sinned against them suffer some sort of harm. Some people seek for justice instead of revenge but if they find no solace in the outcome or no justice can be applied, they go to the other means, still seeking for justice but on a personal level that is revenge. Technically, they’re different. Justice serves to satisfy our desires for revenge.

Revenge doesn’t fix anything, it just make things harder for you. It doesn’t take away the hurt and the pain but merely puts more bad vibes into your life. Forgiveness is far better than revenge, though it doesn’t really fix the situation that fast but in time, it will surely heal the pain and make you forget the hard times. Just consider the pain or what you’ve been through as a lesson and make it as your inspiration to be a better person. Learn to forgive. Learn to let go. Don’t hold grudges because it brings you no good. Forget what hurts you in the past but never forget what it taught you. Revenge is never about getting even but is always a form of falling below another person. Only forgiveness allows you to rise above. In the long term, the less we practice vengeance and the more we practice forgiveness; the happier we will be.

Revenge Is Sweet

The most common question of revenge in relation to science is, “Why revenge is sweet?” Scientists say they know why. I've read this article entitled, "Brain Study Shows Why Revenge Is Sweet written by John Roach for National Geographic News. A new brain-imaging study says we feel satisfaction, pleasure and happiness when we punish others for their bad behavior and see them suffer. We rebuke people who committed wrong against us, abused our trust, lied and cheated on us. It’s actually bad to feel happy when we see someone’s suffering and that’s because we punish him/her. Yes, we’ll feel happy and guilty at the same time because we know to ourselves that being vengeful is a bad thing. It would make us look more of a bad person compare to the person who hurt or abused us.

"A person who has been cheated is [left] in a bad situation—with bad feelings," said study co-author Ernst Fehr, director of the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. "The person would feel even worse if the cheater does not get her or his just punishment."

Fehr along with his colleagues say that the feeling of satisfaction people get from allotting punishment or justice may be what makes the societies keep going together. Cooperation among strangers is greatly enhanced by altruistic punishment if it is ruled out, theory and experimental evidence shows.

I searched for another article and found this one entitled, "Is Revenge Really Sweet?" by Susan Cosier in Science Friday. She says that some scientists have used EEG as their way to measure electrical activity of neurons in the brain. They've found out that a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex lights up when a person is insulted or humiliated which happens to be the same area that brightens when someone sees delicious food and tempted to eat it, Eddie Harmon-Jone says, a University of New South Wales neuroscientist. The greater the activity in the prefrontal cortex, the stronger the one's compulsion to respond.

"A car cuts you off. Somebody takes your wallet. A person bumps into you on the street. A feeling wells up inside: You want revenge. Research shows that the impulse to lash out is similar to that of a food craving—and by satisfying it, you demonstrate that you’re not someone to be messed with. Yet while it’s possible that acting on such urges may feel good at first, negative long-term consequences can make revenge bittersweet."

Human beings have learned to control their behaviors in so many ways. For instance, some people can stop the vengeful instinct and for those people who can't might fight back with physical or verbal assault.

When someone we love and trust hurt us, we get really angry and disappointed. We also get confused because we’re bothered why they were able to do that to us if in the first place they’re someone that we trust. Or maybe they aren’t aware that it would hurt us. Sometimes, it will come to a point that we think; we just don’t matter to them. People also tend to believe that once the trust has been broken, sorry means nothing and will never be enough most especially if we got really hurt.

We all dwell on hurtful situations that we tend to hold grudges over someone, so vengeance and hatred can take root. If we allow negative feelings to eat out positive feelings, we find ourselves swallowed by bitterness and injustice. It’s never worth it to seek for revenge. It will just hurt us as much as we hurt them and we might regret it in the end. We shouldn’t let our lives to wrap up in the wrong things that we can’t enjoy the present because we’re still attached to what happened in the past. Still, the best thing that we can do is to move on, forgive and forget about it but not the lesson that it taught us. Forgiving people doesn’t mean that we deny the person’s responsibility for hurting us and doesn’t minimize or justify the wrong. As we let go of grudges, we’ll no longer define our lives by how much we’ve been hurt but how much we’ve learned and understand everything. Practice forgiveness, embrace peace and let go of resentment and just live a happy life.

Goddesses of Revenge

They say, revenge in Greek mythology began when the gods were angry with the race of men. Pandora was the first woman down to earth placed by Zeus. She was given a box by gods and told her to never look inside of it. She lived many years until she got really curious of what was inside the box and took a peak. All because of Pandora’s curiosity, mischief, revenge and other awful things got unleashed into the world.

As I was searching, I have read this some sort of a history about "Nemesis" in the website of Theoi Greek Mythology.

"Nemesis was the goddess of indignation against, and retribution for, evil deeds and undeserved good fortune. She was a personification of the resentment aroused in men by those who committed crimes with apparent impunity, or who had inordinate good fortune."

Nemesis was one of the extraordinary number of gods and goddesses worshipped by the Ancient Greeks. In myth, she was concerned with the matters of love. She was an avenging agent in Narkissos and Nikaia stories. In Trojan war versions, she was Helene's mother and is shown seduction scenes by Paris pointing an accusing finger at the girl.

The legend and myth about her has been passed down through the ages and plays an important role in the history of the Ancient World and the study of Greek classics. She was described as remorseless goddess, intent on her task which was "to give what is due", an avenging or punishing divinity. Her name derives from the Greek words meaning "dispenser of dues."

She was the daughter of Nyx, the dark goddess of nights and Erebus, the primeval god of darkness. She was also called as Rhamnousia or the goddess of Rhamnous, and was the spirit of divine retribution. Another name was Adrasteia, meaning “the inescapable”. Wheel (symbolized the rapidity with which Nemesis executed justice and later the wheel of fortune), wings (symbolized her role as the avenger of evil gifted with magic and the power of flight), whip or sword (represents the right of Nemesis to "to give what is due") are her three symbols. She got seven siblings namely; Moros, Geras, Thanatos, Hypnos, Eris, Charon, and Keres. Nemesis was described as a beautiful and thoughtful woman.

But Greek mythology also said that Erinyes are the Goddesses of Revenge and Retribution. Erinyes or also known as Furies were cruel earth goddesses who symbolized the divine vengeance. They were three sisters: Alecto, the angry; Megaera, the grudging; and lastly, Tisiphone, the avenger. Furies’ appearances were dreadful creatures with appalling features, burning breath and poisonous blood dripping from their eyes and heads were wreathed as serpents. Their role was to persecute different kinds of crimes, most especially the murder inside a family. Their lust of punishment knew no bounds, for they kept punishing a sinner even after his death, until he finally would show remorse.

I also found this history about "Erinyes" in the same website, The Theoi Greek Mythology.

"They were depicted as ugly, winged women with hair, arms and waists entwined with poisonous serpents. They wielded whips and were clothed either in the long black robes of mourners, or the short-length skirts and boots of huntress- maidens."

Actually, many religions promote the idea of Divine Vengeance. It means you’re not capable to judge a person’s behavior and give punishment to retaliate for their bad behavior if you’re not a god or superior. As for the Christian beliefs/traditions, every person has to face their so called, judgment day upon their deaths. It’s either you live in heaven or suffer in hell.

Politics of Revenge

Revenge in regards with politics? But before we proceed, let's talk about the political dynasty in our country. We all know that political clans has been walking all over the senate, congress and even local and national public offices. From grandparents, to father, mother, and siblings; they're all taking turn on different positions of power all over the archipelago.

Philippine politics is very dirty. There’s corruption, no transparency and most of the time, they use their power for themselves, for their families and not for the betterment of the country. We are all aware that political dynasties continue to reign in the Philippine political landscape. Philippine politics is more like a family affair. Also, many actors/actresses seem to find their way into politics and the fact that some of them do not belong or connected to families that are politically active; and some of them doesn’t have enough knowledge and experience to become a public servant. Money, power, fame and reputation.. yes, that’s all that matters to them.

I found this article entitled, "Politics of Democracy or Vengeance?" written by Nuray Mert in Hurriyet Daily News. This article talks about principles on how to avoid the idea of revenge influencing the social and political interactions in Turkey. But this can also be applied to our country.

"It is only the politics of democracy that can enforce these principles and manage to avoid the idea of revenge dominating social and political interactions. The politics of power and authority are not only the forms of expression of some sort of revenge, but also enforce the idea of counter-vengeance by promoting counter-injustice and humility."

Revenge is an awful retaliation against injustice and inhumanity. The best cure to tame down the terrible human response are the three principles; justice, equality and forgiveness. It is said that only the politics of democracy can implement the three principles mentioned to avoid this war-like vengeful mentality.

Politicians who lost are feeling vengeful after they saw the result in this past election. They feel like they were cheated and they usually jump to wanting revenge or justice to be served to the person. They want to get paid back for their losses and show the people that they’re still powerful. Politicians deal with this kind of situation through vengeance; it’s their way to take some power back for themselves. They think before taking some actions. Revenge is never worth it. But sometimes, it makes them feel a little bit better knowing at least that they were able to release the pain after losing. Their goal for seeking revenge is to erase shame, restore their dignity and increase their pride.  They want to punish people who cheat and break rules just to ensure they learn their lesson but it usually happens in a bad way like they wanna see the person/people suffer.

All of us suffered losses. Many of these losses were unfair and unjust.  We’ve been victims. We’ve been cheated, lied and unlucky and so, we believe that it is our right that things be set right. Taking vengeance is not at all the answer. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Sometimes we're fortunate and sometimes not. Just like in politics, sometimes people are not just in favor of you but against you.