What is evil?

[emiliano]

I personally am with Augustine notion of; “evil is a corrupted good”

 

[Riverwolf]

I go with the Vedic idea that there is no intrinsic evil; what appears to be evil is simply immaturity.

 

[Mr Cheese]

Augustine said that?

Interesting considering he was a Manichaean...

 

[Dunemeister]

Augustine said that?

Interesting considering he was a Manichaean...

Well, he DID convert to Christianity......

 

[Mr Cheese]

Well, he DID convert to Christianity......

Yes....and from hsi writings it is clear he didn't actually know much about the manichaeans....

however... the idea of evil being corrupted good I find interesting considering this is by and large the view of modern hermeticism and arguably Manichaeaism...maybe

 

[Dunemeister]

Yes....and from hsi writings it is clear he didn't actually know much about the manichaeans....

however... the idea of evil being corrupted good I find interesting considering this is by and large the view of modern hermeticism and arguably Manichaeaism...maybe

Yeah, different philsophies can and do overlap. This may be a case where Augustine's manichaean roots percolate to the surface.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

I personally am with Augustine notion of; “evil is a corrupted good”

Evil is perhaps, the result of the human species not agreeing on what is evil.

In other words the very nature of evil, in any sense, is a judgment placed on experience. The fact that people may judge a situation differently, is one characteristic of evil.

Evil is that which comes from humans, and is directed outwardly and inwardly, with the final result being anything the stops peace from taking place.

 

[Just_me_Mike]

Evil is a government that allows itself to be taken over by corporations, thereby enslaving the citizens to a fate of servitude. Yet the greatness of this evil is that it isn't quite evil enough, or at least apparent enough for the people to do anything. In this way it grows and grows unchecked.

 

[MSizer]

Evil is an adjective, not a noun. It does not exist as some form of entity.

 

[Riverwolf]

Evil is an adjective, not a noun. It does not exist as some form of entity.

To further provide support for this second statement, the adjective describes something that is abstract, not concrete.

 

[MoonWater]

"evil" is nothing more than a label we apply to that which we hate, fear, and/or don't understand. Most of the time it takes a combination of the three but since one has a tendency to lead to the other these three criteria are found together all to often. The label was created in order to justify the hatred, destruction and persecution of those things and people to whom the label was applied. It is nothing more than a human construct and label that I feel should be stricken from our psyches as it leads only to division and never to understanding.

 

[Dunemeister]

"evil" is nothing more than a label we apply to that which we hate, fear, and/or don't understand. Most of the time it takes a combination of the three but since one has a tendency to lead to the other these three criteria are found together all to often. The label was created in order to justify the hatred, destruction and persecution of those things and people to whom the label was applied. It is nothing more than a human construct and label that I feel should be stricken from our psyches as it leads only to division and never to understanding.

Really? If I say that rape is evil, is that MY problem? I'm simply hateful, afraid, or ignorant? There is no problem with the rapist?

 

[Dunemeister]

Evil is an adjective, not a noun. It does not exist as some form of entity.

A noun needn't apply to a concrete object. "Love" also isn't an "entity", yet it functions as a noun quite well.

 

[DallasApple]

I think at the root most of us have an identity with what evil is..

Evil exist period..From anyones(MOST) perspective..

I dont know about it being a noun or an adjective..I think both are possible and likely.

Love

Dallas

 

[Riverwolf]

Really? If I say that rape is evil, is that MY problem? I'm simply hateful, afraid, or ignorant? There is no problem with the rapist?

The problem would most likely be psychological.

 

[MoonWater]

Really? If I say that rape is evil, is that MY problem? I'm simply hateful, afraid, or ignorant? There is no problem with the rapist?

Way to read into it. No that is not what I am saying at all. When a rapist rapes it is due to phsychological issues, not be cause he is "an evil vile person". If we want to stop a rapist from raping then we have to understand the psychology behind what causes them to act the way they do. Labeling another person as "evil" does nothing to help this understanding and indeed most of the time gets in the way of this understanding.

When making judgements on people and actions I prefer to make a comparison in terms of the amount of help versus harm the act or person commits. Just because I don't like to make judgements that label something as "good" or "evil" doesn't mean I won't judge if someone or something is causing more harm than help by the actions they are doing. A rapist still needs to take responsibility for what he has done and I still consider rape a deplorable act, more so even than murder. I am personally more leniant in applying good and evil labels to actions but won't do it to people. The main reason why I am opposed to doing it with actions is because applying those labels to actions makes it all the easier to apply those labels to the people who commit them.

The only way I would ever label a person as "evil" is if they never do anything that helps and have absolutely no "redeeming qualities". I cannot think of any person, real or fictional, living or dead, that fits this criteria. Basically good and evil are absolutes, and I don't deal in absolutes.

 

[Dunemeister]

The problem would most likely be psychological.

I don't see what is gained by denying that there is actual evil being perpetrated in this situation, where evil is something distinct from the psychology. I'm prepared to say the rapist has psychological issues, but there is more to rape than the psychological issues. The psychological issues of the rapist has caused an evil act.

Or are you saying that it is me, rather than the rapist, who has the psychological problem?

 

[Riverwolf]

I don't see what is gained by denying that there is actual evil being perpetrated in this situation, where evil is something distinct from the psychology. I'm prepared to say the rapist has psychological issues, but there is more to rape than the psychological issues. The psychological issues of the rapist has caused an evil act.

And because the act is evil, the person is evil, and must, therefore, be a demon?

These people don't need jails; they need psychiatrists and therapy. If that doesn't work, they need asylums.

I don't believe "not guilty by reason of insanity" makes any real sense, but insanity is usually the cause of such horrible crimes such as rape, whether it was there from birth or developed later.

Or are you saying that it is me, rather than the rapist, who has the psychological problem?

I wouldn't know if you have a psychological problem; it would be foolish for me to make such a judgment.

 

[Dunemeister]

Way to read into it. No that is not what I am saying at all. When a rapist rapes it is due to phsychological issues, not be cause he is "an evil vile person".

Well, I wasn't labelling the person, but the act. The act of raping is evil. However, if the person has a habit of doing this, then yes, he is "an evil, vile person."

If we want to stop a rapist from raping then we have to understand the psychology behind what causes them to act the way they do. Labeling another person as "evil" does nothing to help this understanding and indeed most of the time gets in the way of this understanding.

I'm not so sure it "gets in the way of this understanding." Part of what the rapist has to acknowledge is that what he has done is evil. If he has a distorted or deformed personality, whatever the cause, that is certainly part of what needs to be revealed and dealt with. But we shouldn't try to paper over the evil the person has perpetrated. Instead of pretending he's not evil, he should acknowledge that he is evil, be shocked by it, and as a result become motivated to reform.

When making judgements on people and actions I prefer to make a comparison in terms of the amount of help versus harm the act or person commits. Just because I don't like to make judgements that label something as "good" or "evil" doesn't mean I won't judge if someone or something is causing more harm than help by the actions they are doing. A rapist still needs to take responsibility for what he has done and I still consider rape a deplorable act, more so even than murder. I am personally more leniant in applying good and evil labels to actions but won't do it to people. The main reason why I am opposed to doing it with actions is because applying those labels to actions makes it all the easier to apply those labels to the people who commit them.

I understand your reluctance to call a spade a spade. Sometimes the unvarnished truth "gets in the way" of understanding.

The only way I would ever label a person as "evil" is if they never do anything that helps and have absolutely no "redeeming qualities". I cannot think of any person, real or fictional, living or dead, that fits this criteria. Basically good and evil are absolutes, and I don't deal in absolutes.

When you call a person "evil", you are not necessarily saying that they are thoroughly evil. I have no problem calling Ted Bundy evil. He may have been wonderful in certain contexts, but that simply doesn't change the fact that he raped and murdered several young people. These actions were more than "unhelpful". Indeed, they were more than merely harmful. They were downright evil. Failure to label them as such is simply an unwarranted failure of nerve.

 

[emiliano]

Yes....and from hsi writings it is clear he didn't actually know much about the manichaeans....

however... the idea of evil being corrupted good I find interesting considering this is by and large the view of modern hermeticism and arguably Manichaeaism...maybe

He was the fiercest of their oppositor and destroyed their heresy, but he was at one stage of his life Manichaean. He knew plenty about this doctrine, he preaches to it many.