Do you believe in Evil?

turbolapp

turbolapp

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Aug 10, 2007
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Lately, I've had a hard time with the concept of Evil. Everytime I hear someone say it or see someone talk about evil in a movie, I have to fight not to roll my eyes. I've had pretty much dismissed evil as supernatural nonsense (Moral absolutism) which I guess puts me in the Amoralism camp? That doesn't quite sit right though either since I do feel like some people purposely do harm to others but I think that's just really bad behavior rather than some sort of force bigger than us: EVAIL (had to throw the british accent in their for full effect).

What do you guys think?
 


Yes I believe in Evil, it's hard not to believe in Evil when I see how people in power treat those without it. Whether it's financially, physically or whatever.

I believe Satan exists and he is the Ruler of the way the world is run. So yeah I definitely believe in evil.
 
Depends on what you mean by evil! Do you mean impotent evil as in devils and demons or evil masquerading as goodness.

Abuse of power is seen as constituting evil like 'nazi mods' going on a ban spree.

What I believe is evil is something created or committed by humans, it is merely an extension of human nature.
 
Do you roll your eyes at the existence of evil or the existence of the dramatic persona that the word is draped in?
 
My opinion is that power is amoral and that evil as a concept is isomorphic to a lot of other concepts that people believe in without calling it "evil."

Edit: Felt like coming back and throwing out the example that many societies have largely believed that stupidity and/or laziness have caused more harm in the world than outright evil. What falls under "evil" will depend on people as individuals also.
 
I look at evil more from an eastern philosophy now than what i was indoctrinated with before. I see evil as more of an absense of wisdom and good intention. Evil is ignorance. It has no independent existence of itself (there is no evil force), it's just the absense of goodness.
 
turbolapp said:
Lately, I've had a hard time with the concept of Evil. Everytime I hear someone say it or see someone talk about evil in a movie, I have to fight not to roll my eyes. I've had pretty much dismissed evil as supernatural nonsense (Moral absolutism) which I guess puts me in the Amoralism camp? That doesn't quite sit right though either since I do feel like some people purposely do harm to others but I think that's just really bad behavior rather than some sort of force bigger than us: EVAIL (had to throw the british accent in their for full effect).

What do you guys think?
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Think it all comes down to your definition of 'evil'. Evil exists in the same way as love exists - a feeling based on our judgement of an action or situation. I think it can only exist as a thing if you believe in a supernatural realm.

Is the universe inherently moral? No, I don't see any evidence for that. However, there are things that we universally consider evil, such as murder or theft: pretty much everyone agrees that actions like that are wrong or (to give them a label) evil.

A few years ago I was thinking about 'evil' and where it came from and this led me to read the Old Testament a lot more closely, which in turn caused me to lose my Christian faith (that's when I turned to IM for a living). One of my born-again buddies thinks the d-evil got me.

Bit off-thread but ... about the British accent thing: Did you ever notice how hollywood uses British actors to portray the evil character in movies? The alternative is the camp or gay actor. What's that all about?
 
I define evil as forms of human behavior. You would not have "evil" without the existence of humans. Nothing supernatural. Us.

(yes this is a fallacy as noone would exist to observe events. shut up nerd.)
 
potentialeight said:
My opinion is that power is amoral and that evil as a concept is isomorphic to a lot of other concepts that people believe in without calling it "evil."

Edit: Felt like coming back and throwing out the example that many societies have largely believed that stupidity and/or laziness have caused more harm in the world than outright evil. What falls under "evil" will depend on people as individuals also.
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But the fact that we label an action as evil (whatever it is, because it can be different in different societies) is in itself an indicator that we are inherently moral. Whether this has been caused by natural selection or by God is another matter.
 
Ar Scion said:
Do you roll your eyes at the existence of evil or the existence of the dramatic persona that the word is draped in?
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I roll my eyes at people who roll their eyes. [totally seous]

The concept of duality isn't a hard one to figure out unless you've given up thinking once you realized there's no tooth fairy.

wezcountry said:
But the fact that we label an action as evil (whatever it is, because it can be different in different societies) is in itself an indicator that we are inherently moral.
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+1
 
Evil is absolutely a human trait that is not as damaging overall as ignorance is.

I personally define evil as the enjoyment of harming others. -But it's much more broad a definition than smiling when you smack a child... It can fit into any part of life such as politics and philosophy.

A question I debate with myself on this subject: Is it still evil when you are incentivized to do something universally thought to be an evil thing, such as kill another person? For instance, if there is no enjoyment to be had, is it evil to kill someone for money? Or for a corporation to destroy a village in order to make room for a new plant or oil well? -They don't get off on these things but how can destroying human lives not be evil, especially when its' just for shallow gain?
 
wezcountry said:
But the fact that we label an action as evil (whatever it is, because it can be different in different societies) is in itself an indicator that we are inherently moral.
Click to expand...
I don't follow your logic here. One potential counter-example would be someone in power labeling the actions of an enemy as "evil" purely for political purposes. In this case, the "evil" act would have nothing to do with morality and everything to do with manipulation, even in the general public's interpretation of it.
 
potentialeight said:
I don't follow your logic here. One counter-example would be someone in power labeling the actions of an enemy as "evil" purely for political purposes. In this case, the "evil" act would have nothing to do with morality and everything to do with manipulation, even in the general public's interpretation of it.
Click to expand...

It's the fact that we seem to have an in-built sense of right and wrong that makes me wonder if evil (and good) is 'real'. What we perceive as right or wrong is beside the point.
 
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