“there is no such thing as “free will” with which to decide to commit evil. (Like evil, free will is an antiquated concept for most.) Autonomous, conscious decision-making itself may well be an illusion. And thus intentional evil is impossible.”
This claim surfaces from time to time in various forms. It’s always self defeating. If there’s no free will, then the scientists making that claim were destined to make that claim, and there can be no truth value in their claim.
Pure moral nihilism. They believe there is no evil, no free will, and even consciousness is an illusion. And of course they eventually want to “take people off the streets” based on MRI’s. Typical left wing efforts to excuse all wrongdoing and take away personal freedom.
IMHO, most evil people are desensitized into it. Whether from things done to them, or by conscious escalation of actions, they gradually move into the evil realm.