>>19888203
http://www.tolkienonline.de/etep/ring_toc.html
4.5.2. The self-destructive, self-deceiving nature of evil
"But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this we shall put him out of reckoning." [190]
"But the evil they work according to their maker's design turns often to good that he did not intend, and even to his loss and defeat." [191]
These two comments give clues as to the self-destructive nature of evil. Consider the history of the Ring. It slips off Isildur's finger and betrays him. We know that the Ring works to try and get back to its Master. Deagol finds the Ring, and it is taken from him by Gollum. The evil of the Ring corrupts Gollum utterly. The power of Sauron as Necromancer arises in Mirkwood and the Ring once again stirs. Bilbo finds the Ring, and Gollum, having been deprived of the Precious, seeks to regain it.
Sauron is aware that the Ring is abroad, and that it is in the hands firstly of hobbits and latterly of Men and Elves. He becomes aware of Aragorn as Heir of Isildur when Aragorn reveals himself to Sauron in the Palantir of Orthanc. Clearly, Sauron believes that the Ring will be wielded by Aragorn, and although he has no positive proof, the defeat of his forces at the Pelennor Fields and the end of the Black Captain could lead him to infer that the Ring is in the hands of those who are using main force.
Indeed, the thought of anyone wanting to destroy the Ring has never occurred to Sauron. So obsessed is he with retrieving his power that he cannot conceive that anyone would want to destroy it, but, like him, would desire to have it and use it. This is the very reason why the destruction of the Ring is mooted at Rivendell. And Sauron's self-deception, and the consequences of it become clear when Frodo claims the Ring.
Nihilists are a problem