Evil Evolves the capacity to Deceive people that it is Good?

Question

Optimistically, people tend to focus on how historical change brings advancement towards good human social affairs. More realistically, however, throughout history, not only Good, but also Evil evolves. Evil can be considered a historical principle of how injustice transforms itself throughout the ages. While the societal capacity for justice advances, unfortunately so does the societal capacity for injustice. Social evils advance from blatant and overt to subtle and covert. Thus, Evil develops the capacity to deceive people that it is Good.

Comment on how Evil evolves throughout the ages. And/Or
Identify social evils that currently have Humankind under the spell of Evil's deception that it is Good.

Many evils are transhistorical. Injustices including but not limited to racism, sexism, classism, ageism, and ableism will always be evil. The concrete expression of the same or similar forms of injustice may change from time to time, but the fact that they are evil does not ever necessarily diminish.

deknowsit:
I find it interesting that you included personal characteristics such as ignorance and cowardice in your list of evils. What can be evil about ignorance? the ignorant persons? their ignorant beliefs? their misinformed behaviours? the social circumstances that promote misinformed behaviours that have harmful consequences? and/or the harmful consequences of those behaviours?

For actions to be evil they do not depend entirely on the personal characteristics of the person who is taking the actions. For actions to be evil they do not necessarily require evil intentions; people practice many evils based on good intentions and mistaken ideals.

Whether actions are evil largely depends on their social consequences, and their degree of social harmfulness.

Answer 1

Intriguing statement and interesting list of 'evils.'

In my opinion, evil is not any particular action, but the motivation behind the action. Thus, killing, steeling, lying, etc... are not 'good' they are not "EVIL' either, not in and of themselves at any rate. By this I am saying that to kill in self defense is not evil, to steel in order to procure necessities to live is not evil, to lie in order to save lives in not evil. But, is the motivation behind these or ANY activity is of a particular nature, then the activity becomes evil.

Furthermore, evil is not just a list of ideologies that directly affect others. Something evil would be any ideal, perception, attitude, philosophy that directly harms humanity as a whole in on part, including the individual. So, just like the less common occurrence of killing, other common activities can become evil with the proper, or wrong, motivation. Sex become evil when it is rape. Eating could be called evil when the motivation is gluttony. Simply sitting in a chare can become evil when the medication goes from temporary relaxation or rest to laziness.

The problem with this theory of evil, as with virtually any theory of evil, is that it is subjective. What is detrimental to humanity? What is beneficial to humanity? Obviously, if you had asked Hitler and his Nazis, any Non-Aryan was detrimental to humanity. (He was clearly mistaken.) Just as there are those that believe that any none Christian is detrimental to humanity, (Again, clearly they are mistaken)

I working on my own definition of evil, thus far incomplete, but still informative and in my opinion, sound.

EVIL - Intentional and unrepentant ignorance*, indolence**, gluttony+, bigotry++ and cowardice.# {See notes below.}

So, racism, sexism, classism, ageism, and ableism are absolutely evil. And although you are correct, that much of this is done in secret today, particularly classism and ageism while racism and sexism are slowly but surly starting to fade a bit at a national or social level but are still present and in some locations thriving in individuals. The secret evils, or the evils that are being hidden from sight and perpetuated without the publics knowledge, are a sign of greater more common evils, ignorance, indolence, gluttony & cowardice. Most governments through out history have been guilty of various forms of bigotry and intolerance. However, the masses permitted these atrocities, usually because they were week. Eventually, when the people had enough of the cruelty, they would revolt and changes were made.

Today, in the age of the "Knowledge economy," the next step after the Information age, there is a plethora of information available to the general public, particularly here in the US and other "free" nations. People read, watch and listen to this information regularly and then dismiss the things that are unpleasant to them. Sixteen US CIA operatives have warrants for their arrest because they kidnapped prisoners of war awaiting trial in Germany from local law enforcement. A bill has been passed to force US Citizens to have a federal ID card. (Federally mandated state ID card) Domestic spying is a fact of life, the president of the US has lied to congress, The US Spends more money on healthcare then virtually any other nation and yet we are only 42 longest lived peoples by nation. Each year we put more and more criminals in prison and yet crime still goes on. Fewer and fewer people vote each ear. Thos who do vote elect officials who repeatedly increase taxes, fines for individuals, and crate new unnecessary rules that have hefty fines all while decreasing spending on sensible programs, increasing their own pensions and paychecks, decreasing corporate fines and responsibilities and passing legislature the further restricts the American People.

Your supposition that the evil is done in secret, or done while deceiving good, is intriguing, yes, but it is mistaken. The good has not been deceived. The facts are in plain sight. The problem that most of the people that you think are good have succumb to the evils of ignorance & indolence in sop far as they either don’t want to know the truth or once they do know they ignore it or don’t want to be bothered by it. Or worse, they have succumbed to cowardice & gluttony because they are afraid that if they speak up they could loose the nice things they have, their jobs or even their friends. So, evil exists and it is not deceiving the good, the 'good' are just another form of evil.

I hope this helps.

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NOTES:
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* Ignorance: The condition of being uninformed or uneducated. lacking knowledge or information
** Indolence: Habitually lazy, procrastinating, or resistance to physical or mental labor.
+ Gluttony: (archaic definition) Thoughtless and unreasonable excess. (This is not limited to food and drink by could include any substance (drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc...), sex, gambling, etc... even money! [seeking money for the sake of having money or seeking it to the exclusion of all other pursuits would be gluttonous.])
++ Bigotry: Irrational intolerance and/or disdain of others based on racial, ethnical and/or cultural differences.
#Cowardice: Lack of mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty to a reasonable level of commitment.

Answer 2

One common theme in history books is the government stepping up for the "good." Some of the government's actions which are still seen as virtuous and necessary for the "common good" are economic controls.

One example is the minimum wage. The establishment of the minimum wage (1938 in the United States) is seen as a heroic act by Franklin Roosevelt. After all, a living wage for all has to be a good thing right?

The minimum wage is evil. No voluntary interaction between men is evil. All interactions between men which are forced on either party are evil. I do not feel the need to elaborate.

The "common good" is often evil's deception. But nothing is good that sacrifices anybody by force, no matter how small of a minority the victims are.

Answer 3

Let's not forget the whole televangelism money stealers of the 80's and 90's. Proverbial wolves in sheep's clothing. The Inquisition, Salem Witch trials, the Communist witch hunts, War...Evil didn't evolve to this. It was always this way. Not to get biblical, but the whole serpent/apple business was at the beginning. And if it didn't really happen, the idea certainly existed for it to be written. Evil is much more successful, unfortunately, when it puts on a pretty face.

Answer 4

Organic Rationalism: The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative. When the spirit transcends objective reasoning, then there is moral relativism, evil identification, Judgment with cultural form. But, it is the same organ for everyone, the Judgment.

Why is the right to property an extend-able right and not a completely extended right. The Judgment. The Judgment becomes the Will for evil, positive becomes negative. The negation for universality is evil but the negation for individuality is evil. Evil is therefor divided against its self.

The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative, not 'but the Judgment is negative'.

What is the position for universality and what is position for individuality. If it is not negation then it is position.


http://www.glumbert.com/media/cultleader

http://www.lucifereffect.com

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/comm.htm

Atheism, as the denial of this unreality, has no longer any meaning, for atheism is a negation of God, and postulates the existence of man through this negation; but socialism as socialism no longer stands in any need of such a mediation. It proceeds from the theoretically and practically sensuous consciousness of man and of nature as the essence. Socialism is man’s positive self-consciousness, no longer mediated through the abolition of religion, just as real life is man’s positive reality, no longer mediated through the abolition of private property, through communism.

Communism is the position as the negation of the negation, and is hence the actual phase necessary for the next stage of historical development in the process of human emancipation and rehabilitation. Communism is the necessary form and the dynamic principle of the immediate future, but communism as such is not the goal of human development, the form of human society. [34]

Karl Marx
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844


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Private Property and Communism

Answer 5

I think most of us are very good people living in a dark world, where we are forced to make decisions to that will harm others in order not to harm ourselves.

We pen and kill animals to eat them. We fight each other over the richest parts of the planet. We have different color skins, speak different languages that play upon our inborn prejudice. We have different religions that divide us, with different customs. Some of us take advantage of the weakest and often nicest people among us. Yet we are all the friggin' same inside, give or take some skills and ambitions. The ironies are everywhere.

Evil doesn't evolve, no. I think it has always been here for us to wrestle. It is as we are all being put in this skin and on this planet as some kind of test.

Answer 6

Good and evil do not necessarily "evolve" as different cultures and individuals have contrasting views on what defines good and evil at any given time. When one group decides to change the parameters to what is either "good" or "evil," another may simply maintain the status quo, causing a clash of ideals. Of course, that clash could, itself, be considered "evil."

Answer 7

Well said. And growth is a fearsome thing.