Innocence

In its most general sense, innocence refers to the state of being without sin. A more restricted meaning is attributed to the word in the legal sphere, where people who are found not to be guilty of a particular crime are described as innocent. In official teaching of the Roman Catholic church, all direct killing of the innocent is forbidden. Here the word refers to people who are not harmful. Nowadays, this can be taken to mean ‘non-aggressors’. According to Rousseau, humans possess original goodness. Corrupting influences come from outside them.