There can be no good without the existence of evil....?

Question

What do you think about this statement and how do you think it applys to the Judao-Christian religions and there blatant attack of duality in the Torah and the OT?

Thank you all for the answers thus far, but I would like to point out that in the beginning of the Torah, the concept of Duality is forbidden.

Answer 1

Many people seem to regard evil is a 'thing'... something that has some form of corporeal existence in the physical universe. In that sense, evil does NOT exist.

Evil 'exists' only as an abstract concept... one that is 'dualistic' in nature. 'Evil' cannot 'exist' without 'good'. They are the two sides of the same coin, in the Yin/Yang sense. One cannot 'exist' without the other; neither can be defined or described except in terms of the other.

Good/evil is further abstracted in the sense that it represents a 'judgement'... not a 'thing'. As a judgement, good/evil is wholly subjective, since it relies entirely upon the 'criteria' that is employed in making the judgement.

So, the real issue is not good/evil per se... rather it is the criteria that people use in making their judgements of good/evil.

Since we are pretty much all wired the same, and share pretty much the same cultural values in a larger sense, we usually find ourselves on common ground when we judge questions such as "Was Hitler evil?", since we can agree on the criteria. However, we should realize that if Hitler had been asked the question "Are you evil?", he most certainly would have been thoroughly offended by the very idea. According to HIS criteria, he would have seen his actions as good, for his people and for 'The Fatherland'.

When we get down to subtler questions, where someone's 'criteria' might depend upon interpretation of a particular bible verse, for example, these kinds of judgements can get a little stickier.

Remember, though... it's not really about good/evil, it's really about criteria... which ultimately comes down to one's moral compass.

Answer 2

This statement is true within the context of human experience; we cannot know good without simultaneously understanding evil, for only the truly innocent can commit acts that the rest of us consider evil without realizing they are doing wrong. It is this understanding of the line we draw between good and evil that places the responsibility for our choices in our hands -- otherwise, we could not know what sins to confess (if your church does confession)

As far as Judeo-Christian theology, this applies as well -- the only time in the Christian creation myth that there was only good was in the very, very beginning, before the creation of the world -- when God created heaven and earth and all the rest, he introduced evil into the world when Lucifer was brought into being. The fact that He created beings capable of sin is only possible through the necessity of the fundamental duality of good and evil co-existing. Since most religions provide a framework for societal behavior, they also require this duality in order to impose a moral order -- proclaiming a bunch of Thou Shalt's and Thou Shalt Not's can only be done by stating the Shalt Not's are "wrong" or evil.

Answer 3

Good and evil HAVE to co-exist, as it is impossible to understand what true good is without first experiencing the opposite. Consider... what would we consider cold if we've only lived in the Arctic? In order to have an extreme in any direction, be it good or bad, there must be something to guage it on. For one person a bad day might be stubbing their toe on the table, while another person's bad day is getting arrested or something like that. As far as the religious aspect goes, I really can't say because I don't know a whole lot about it, but I don't consider it to be an attack on any specific religion, more than just a theory of extremes in existence.

Answer 4

Actually, that statement, I feel, only exists through the limitations of words. The word good, and its definition, can only be made with the existence of the word evil, along with its definition. However, the essence of what is good, I believe, can exist without the presence of evil. As for the second part of your question, I can't answer that as I don't know enough of duality in those philosophies to form a proper answer..

Answer 5

Well the laws of phsics dictate that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction...Therefore there can't be good without evil. Of course I am a utopianist and believe to the contrary. Regardless...I prefer the following statement...So long as there is divergence in belief systems there will be stife (not necessairly specific evil, but generalized disagreement leading to larger events like war). PEACE!

Answer 6

I agree. without it's opposite a force is meaningless. Pure Good and Pure Evil are both equally destructive and terrible..it is the interplay between the two that create balance.
Christian religions try to be "good" and by denying the balance they destroy just about everything they touch

Answer 7

yes and to say there can be varying degrees of good but still no "evil" is foolish. If you try to apply our standards of evil to a world without evil then there is no comparison. However, evil can be in the eye of the beholder. Imagine a world where everybody says "Bless you" when you sneeze. In our world if someone doesn't say it it's not considered evil but in that world if someone doesn't say it they could conceivably be considered "evil". The only way "good" can be appreciated is if there is "evil" to contrast it with. Evil doesn't need to be mass murdering satanists, evil could be the ice cream shop running out of double mocha fudge ice cream.

Answer 8

Personally i feel that u'r statement is true ... 'cz beeing humans we alwaz see things with a comparitive frame of mind. It's like if v say sumthin' is gud , dat means it's gud with respect to the other things around it . So yes i agree that gud exists only since evil does.

Answer 9

I think it's BS. All that is necessary for recognition of good are varying degrees of goodness. Evil is not necessary as a point of comparison. Do I really have to eat dog poo in order to appreciate lobster? No, of course not.

Answer 10

i agree that to understand anything we need to make a comparison to something of the opposite
i would say that there can be good deeds done without the existence of evil .. but we wouldn't understand those good deeds without in some previous situation seeing the opposite for comparison ..
this is the very reason i feel we exist in this life .. to experience all and compare all .. to learn human emotions .. to learn empathy through pain .. compassion through hurt ... love through hate ..
everything is wonderfully balanced