Without "civilized society" would the concept of evil and good exist?

Question

this is a question in response to many whom stated that society makes up the terms good and evil

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

not that I disagree with you

Answer 1

Society may have made up the terms 'good and evil', but it has always existed.

Answer 2

Good and evil are objective realities that exist completely regardless of human beings and any society we may create.

Before "civilized society" good and evil still existed, only the humans around during the pre-history time period either didn't have a language to express such terms, or they just didn't have the understanding that we have about good and evil due to so many great minds clarifying much about those realities.

So maybe the concepts of good and evil wouldn't exist, but that is in no significant way connected to the unchanging existence of both good and evil in the created universe.

Answer 3

OK i guess in order to decide if good and evil would exist you need to start with what is a civilized society. at its base civilization equal a population of people. society defines a group of people who have a similar outlook on life. so a civilized society is a group of individuals aligned to a common cause. so if we did not have a civilized society we would not have any common ground in the grouping so each individual would be acting on their own behalf for what they need or wanted. There, would be no folkways that would lead to moral judgments of good or bad therefore, there would be no concepts of good or bad for that society. However, good or bad for the individual would exist, leading to a basic anarchistic population.

Answer 4

I believe that humans have an innate sense of morality and justice. Civilized society picked upon those and called them "good" and "evil". There are some conflicts between the two. The conflicts arise because "civilized" sociey has been different across time and geography. It is more limited than free men thinking by themselves. For example, natural law, the natural sense of what's good and evil, makes hurting others bad. It is because sane people empathize with their fellow humans and have a need to create security. Because some people are not mentally sane, however, society created rules. As a rule, rules (!) are limiting, not flexible, subject to exceptions, and often sel-serve the majority, which is why they may appear unnatural. For example, ancient Greece thought nothing wrong of homosexualilty, now many "civilized' societies condemn and harass homosexuals. But good and evil exist within our hearts, and this is regardless of whether there are written civilized laws. You instinctively know that you don't beat up on elderlies or rape little boys. For that matter, in my opinion, you instinctively feel that it is wrong to discriminate against people of another race (yet, it was OK at some point in many so-called civilized countries), or harass people and discriminate against them because they prefer to be with others (adults) of their own gender. I used to be a big fan of Nietsche, and I still enjoy his thoughts. But they are fun as fantasy to me now, delusions of grandeur. After all, he was a big influence on Hitler.

Answer 5

2
When people see things as beautiful,
ugliness is created.
When people see things as good,
evil is created.

Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low oppose each other.
Fore and aft follow each other.

Therefore the Master
can act without doing anything
and teach without saying a word.
Things come her way and she does not stop them;
things leave and she lets them go.
She has without possessing,
and acts without any expectations.
When her work is done, she take no credit.
That is why it will last forever.

Good and evil only exist in this dualistic world that we have created. I doubt the dinosaurs were concerned with good and evil.

Answer 6

A concept of good and evil is probably the first steps of civilization.

Try to read the following links.

Answer 7

Without civilized society, morals would be up to the individual. I think some good would exist, but evil would be more prevalent.

Answer 8

It depends entirely on what definition of good and evil you are talking about. There are certain "goods" and "evils" that are universal, not even just to humans but many animals too. For instance killing your own = evil mating for life/having children = good. But in more complicated moralist terms, you could argue that "society" (whatever civilized means doesn't matter) is what defines those goods and evils.

Answer 9

imagining the cave man society, at the time of hunting and gathering food and all that stuff, i think there must be things in his life that he refer to as "good" deeds, for example, we all imagine the life back then as struggle between man and his environment, this environment include of course enemies like predators, and other men who compete in food and women etc, survival of the fittest.
ok, picture this; another man who hunted a deer and came to this other man and share it with his family, of course he would be appreciate that, and inside his mind he will consider this "good" (of course may be they didn't have the words or the concepts of the word, but the feeling of "good" is delivered)
On the other hand if he is attacked for not the normal reasons of their time, sure he will consider that "evil"
i think that good and evil is not just a consequence of civilization.

Answer 10

The concept of good and evil have always been, and always will be. Society has influenced it, but cannot change it greatly. Civilized or not, everyone feels guilt. Everyone has enough knowledge to determine weather what they do is god or bad.

Answer 11

yes ,i agree that .society makes up the terms good and evil.