Gary Childress wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 7:17 pm
Sculptor wrote: ↑Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:21 am
Only criminals are guilty.
How do you define a "criminal"?
A person convincted of a crime.
Or what sorts of actions make a person a "criminal" in your estimation?
QED
Is guilt only associated with those who are "criminals?" Can a person legitimately feel guilty over something and not be a "criminal?"
Gulit in this sense is a legal term. A state of being imposed by the authorities, and not something felt.
All feelings of guilt are fake.
People do have feelings about events in which they think they might have made a mistake.
There are big problems with pinning a name on "feelings" for several reasons. THe main reason is that all feelings are subjective and rarely can a single word exhaust the meaning and quality of the emptional spectrum.
But in this particular case there is a serious problem with feelings of guilt and shame.
There are two ways one can sunder events which have led to error that have led to such feelings.
Either the event was done intentionally or the event has been done unintentionally.
If I acted intentionally then the right response to a mistake would not be guilt. The correct response wopuld be an acknowledgement that I was acting in the best possible way at the time, and that I shall learn from the event to act better next time. If I acted intentionally to cause harm then guilt is not the correct response. The correct resonse is to stand by my actions.
If the mistake happened without my intention then I have nothing to feel sorry for and so guilt is not the correct response, but any recompense I think valuable in the circumstances would be the next thing to do.
Guily is like regret. An empty and useless emotion and no use except as a teaching aid for children.