Is their such thing as evil?

Question

philosophically speaking?

Answer 1

A plethera of answers and only a few actually giving you any indication of what you asked about.

Sinced you asked from a philosophical point of view, it would be prudent for people to ralize that such things would by necessity be taken from a observers view point.

Good and Evil are simply words we use to communicate. They only mean what the society your in makes them mean....take killing someone for example. Under most of the worlds population - wanton killing is evil - but what about the populations of say - i dont know - cannibals maybe? Is killing evil to them? What about the "radical muslims" we hear so much about - is killing evil to them.

Evil in a given society is based on the moral code of that society. All moral codes are the equivelent of "good" for the person practicing that code and actions opposed to that code are considered "evil".

If we went back to the muslim for example - to them - our interference in their way of life is evil - to use - we think we are doing them a great favor by bringing democracy to them. So who is really the evil one - them for protecting themselves with car bombs and killing wantonly or us for runing their way of life?

Well, you asked philosophically so I had to present it that way. Suffice it to say, evil cannot exist in any moral code if good does not exist. As we know it - they are opposites - so if one doesnt exist the other has nothing to compare itself too and therefore it wouldnt exist either.

Answer 2

It's really conceptual. It's not really about whether it exists.

Evil is the opposite of 'good'. Problem with that idea is, people only do what they think is the right thing to do. Even serial killers and pedophiles think what they're doing is right. If they truly knew it was wrong, then obviously they wouldn't do those things, because they'd know it was wrong. These people may only say what they're doing is wrong because they fear backlash, and most importantly, they don't want to get caught. It's really a game of chicken.

So 'evil' can exist, it just has to have a different meaning. Either way, there is truth to evil being the opposite of good, as 'good' is simply knowing. But everyone has some good, some truth in them. When we say we have 'evil' in them, evil is the opposite of knowing, so we can say both that because an 'evil' person is lacking in knowledge of something, that he doesn't have evil 'in' him, but we can also say that evil is an addiction, which means an evil person is 'gravitating' towards something that he can't know.

Either way, we all want to exist, and we want to know.

My opinion is that evil doesn't exist.The very word evil is by it's own definition, evil. It's really just another addiction people have when they blame 'evilness' for things that happen. So there is no use for the word, imo.

Answer 3

In some circles of philosophy, there is a question about how one defines evil and whether it is a "thing" or not. Even if we can ostensively point at a person, thing or phenomenon and assign the term "evil" to the person, thing or phenomenon which we ostensively reference, one difficulty that arises is how we define the adnominal (namely "evil") that we have employed in relation to the aforementioned referents. Another difficulty with "evil" is that it does not seem to be a "thing" or metaphysical object. A number of Christian theologians have defined "evil" as an absence of good. By making this move, at the very least, one avoids making God responsible for evil, even if something called "evil" does obtain in the world. Denying that "evil" is a metaphysical entity or presence also has the consequence of avoiding a Manichean approach to metaphysics. I.e. evil is not some power along another power called "good." Having spoken thus, I still believe that we can appropriately refer to things like 9/11 as "evil" or maybe call some people or regimes "evil."

Answer 4

Yes.












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As for the question, "What is Evil", which you no doubt want to ask next, the definition is relatively simple. Evil is that which is diametrically opposed to Good. That there is "Good" seems to be a given, since you never see anyone asking if there is such a thing as Good. And since there is such a thing as Good, there must therefore be something which completely lacks any characteristic of Good. This is what we call Evil.

Now in regards to a more functional definition of Evil we again look to Good. Good, as demonstrated by most belief systems, is unselfishness. Absolute, pure, unadulterated Good, then, would be Selflessness. For example, we speak of people making sacrifices for "the greater good". We quote Christ (a commonly accepted example of Good regardless of your religious belief) as saying that to love your enemies is good. By our previous definition, then, Evil is selfishness. It is the disregard for others in the pursuit of one's own desires.

Answer 5

No i don't think there is. Even though people call themselves evil they really are good deep into the heart,mind, and soul, just give the "evil" people and you"l see that there is no such thing as evil.

Answer 6

I think evil is a real intelligence, but one that lacks any power to do good. It is void of truth. It has followers. Before anything was, I think God knew that of all the creatures he created with a free will, some would use that will to oppose Him. In doing so that creature separates itself from God and becomes a nothing, since God is everything. The opposite of reality, which is all good, is evil, in all its degrees and forms.

Answer 7

yes there is such thing as evil and the devil is in it thats y u have 2 lok 4 God corectly and fear him then evil wont come 2 u cause our Lord Jesus Christ will be protecting u God bless u

Answer 8

Evil is just the word for the bad or negative side of things, the words good and evil dont make much sense but yeah, evil is probably the best word to describe the dark side of people, and things.

Answer 9

I guess it all depends on one's perception of what evil is. In my opionion, It goes way beyond a lack of love, or just "negativity" . If you believe that there is some driving force behind human beings intentionally hurting and killing one another for reasons next to nothing, than, one might consider evil to be real.

Answer 10

Yes malicious self serving actions to self agrandize the ego are evil. The Ego is what causes us to do wrong.