dehumanization

While dehumanization is bad, one might be able to consider it a necessary evil. Usually in wars or other intense conflicts, a person might have great difficulty when faced with the prospect of actually killing another human being. This is natural and makes sense as if people had little to no problem with the aspect of killing one another, we as a species would have killed each other off. As duty calls and people are called off to war, they are tasked with killing the enemy, whether it is indirectly or directly. People, especially soldiers can understand the concept of killing, but for some when it actually happens; they are unable to do it, why? And how can this apply to the physicians who ran experiments on other human beings in the concentration camps?

Dehumanization is the process in which someone devalues the life and legitimacy of another human being. Simply put people are being objectified so as to make killing and inflicting harm easier. The real trouble with dehumanization however, is that is going to be hard, if not impossible to get rid of. This is because that as long as conflict exists, soldiers will exist to diffuse and win the conflict for their side, victory is only possible if one thinks of his enemy as less than human.

Dehumanization functions as a method to loosen a person’s, or even an entire society’s moral restraints that were placed upon them by society. People’s emotions are split into two categories: primary emotions and secondary emotions. Primary emotions are considered universal; they exist in other living beings aside from humans. These emotions consist of: happiness, dear, sadness, and anger. Primary emotions are a product of nature and evolution, they naturally exist within us whether we want them to or not. Secondary emotions such as: regret, nostalgia, and exuberance (overwhelmingly cheerful or full of energy) are a product of human society. Animals for example don’t necessarily feel these emotions.