The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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637. When savages give in to their instinctive desire to eat human flesh, are they guilty?
“The essence of evil lies in the will, therefore humans are more or less guilty according to the awareness of their own actions.”


Circumstances give good and evil a relative seriousness. Humans often commit faults that are reprehensible as a consequence of the social positions in which they are placed. Their accountability is proportionate to the means they possess of distinguishing between right and wrong. Therefore, enlightened individuals who commit minor injustices are more culpable in God’s eyes than ignorant savages who surrender to their instincts.

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