What is your definition of "Evil"?

Question

.
I'm looking only for LOGICAL / RATIONAL definitions of "evil."

Please, no faith-based definitions or examples of people whom you feel are evil. "The Devil" or "the absence of God" are NOT logical definitions, and neither are "Adolf Hitler" or "things that are bad."

I'm looking for your opinion of a rational explanation for evil. Are humans inherently evil? Does the concept of "evil" even exist, or is it just a word we use for everything we don't like and don't understand?

Mature answers only, please. Thank you!
.

Answer 1

My definition of evil:

Good and Evil are human perceptions... they are subjective concepts based on cultural norms...

We place the label of 'Evil' on acts that we (as a culture) don't like, but if we, as a culture, consider something to be beneficial, then we label it as 'good'.

Examples: some historic cultures used to sacrifice children to the gods and this was considered a good act, not an act of evil; England and America used to practise the barbaric act of slavery and, at the time, this was culturally normal and not considered to be evil by most people.. today most people consider it an evil practise for good reason; I consider George Bush to be evil, but many people consider him to be their saviour against the evil of Bin Laden & Co; Bin Laden and his followers believe that they are righteous and doing God's good work.. obviously most people (especially non muslims) don't agree with this view point.

So Good and Evil are all subjective, and can only be defined by the person giving the label. They are not absolute terms.

There are some behaviours and acts that almost everyone would term as extremely 'immoral'. These behaviours or acts might be labelled as 'evil'. We might label the people who commit these acts as 'evil' people, because they commit what we consider to be 'evil' acts. Examples of what we consider to be extreme immoral acts are serial child murder or child abuse... but, again, this labelling is a decision that is reached by a consensus of the majority of the population.. 'evil' is not an absolute term, it is a consensus. For instance, in some societies, old and present, it is normal for people to marry children.

So where do are 'morals' come from? They come from our family and our society and are instilled in us to protect the whole society. (for instance, Jesus & Mohamed & Buddha taught a moral code to their followers to live by, probably because they felt a deep love for their fellow man/woman and wanted to make people's lives better... these moral codes have been used ever since by many different people and peoples mainly to control societies or to make societies better places to live).





But here is another definition of evil that could be considered:

the act of purposefully & knowingly inflicting misery, suffering or pain on others purely for a person's own gain, when there are other options or other choices that could be made.



but then we can also inflict suffering on others by our actions due to ignorance, confusion and denial.

at what point does evil kick in?

does is kick in at ignorance, at confusion, at denial or at purposeful & willful acts?

in other words, if we inflict suffering onto others because of our own purposeful actions, are we evil if we are ignorant that our actions cause harm to others? are we evil if we suffer from confusion and we think that our actions cause some suffering to somebody but we are told it is the right & normal thing to do and we don't know the best way forward so we do it anyway? are we evil if we know that our actions affect others but we say to ourselves (or our society says to us) that it doesn't matter and we carry on anyway?



And are we all guilty of evilness?

i'm think about our everyday actions or inaction that have an impact on people around the world i.e. contributing to global warming, using toxic chemicals, allowing our leaders to declare wars, buying non-organic food, buying products from manufacturers that support oppresive regemes etc.



Its a big subject which provokes a lot of thought, discussion and debate...

thanks for the question!

zag :-)

Answer 2

I think every human being that's alive has a dark side to their personality. We all have unfriendly thoughts from time to time, but we don't always act upon our impulsive desires; not without considering the consequences of our unkind or cruel behavior. Even when we know some thing is harmful/wrong, we some times fall short of being perfect and do what we want to any way, and tell ourselves that we don't care if we get caught - or not. That is, until after the deed has been done and we have time to think about what we did.

Then guilt and remorse may set in. Punishment may make some one with a conscience feel shame and be unable to enjoy the fact that they have caused harm in some way.

I agree with what every one else has to say about what they think evil is. Any person that actively plans on causing harm or death to any living being (human or animal), and is indifferent towards someone Else's pain is soulless and not pleasant to be around. Are they evil? I would not call them good people. Most hardened criminal minds are like this.

Answer 3

It's hard to define, but I know it when I see it. Humans aren't inherently evil. Though they are often selfish, and that can lead to evil. I'd use it to describe the holocaust, and that isn't just because I "don't understand" the holocaust. Evil actually does exist. And there are plenty of things I don't like that I wouldn't call evil (broccoli, for example). Car accidents and casual sex can be bad, but I wouldn't call them evil either. If I had to pick a definition, I might say it's when people intentionally, unjustifiably do significant amounts of damage to something. Although sometimes the evildoer thinks they're justified.

Answer 4

I do believe that we humans are inherently evil. Our first act is one that is dripping with selfishness; that is, being the first to the egg. We could wait around and let the others by, but we do not. We swim as fast as we can so that we will be the only one to live.



I am convinced that if you told someone that they could do whatever they wished without ANY fear of repercussion, a wave of evil would gush from them and engulf everything around them. But then again, evil is a relative term. (Sorry for using this analogy but) the very first sin was trying to understand the knowledge of good and evil. It seems that we are not to try to decide what is good and what is not. We can never do it. The knowledge of good and evil, it seems, is an elusive beast in the wilderness of life for which we have no trap.

Answer 5

I think true evil is cold, dark & heavy inside and emotionless... someone who would hurt you not because the person hates you or would derive some sort of pleasure from your pain, but someone who just wants to see you suffer for suffering sake without a flicker of emotion or an ounce of humanity in them.



I do not believe that humans are inherently evil, yeah we do stupid things or we go after an opportunity at the expense of others or (in the case of serial rapists, murderers etc) recieve pleasure in the harming of innocents because of years of abuse as a youth or an imbalance in the brain etc. I think its very very rare to find a person being born and from birth being totally alienated from any form of emotion, a mutation of sorts and that is what I think of as true evil because this person would have no moral compass.

Answer 6

"Evil" is simply a term we subjectively use to described things or acts that are considered to be detrimental to one's own well-being. Things that are not fully understood do not fall into the category of "evil" since they have yet to be fully realized. Humans are not inherently evil, but rather selfish in nature.

From a utilitarian perspective, true evil would be considered an act that is utterly devoid of reason or purpose and for which there is nothing of substance to gain. It is simply wasted effort on one's part.

Answer 7

Evil is putting yourself ahead of others.

Killed a duck for the fun of it? I would consider that evil; you inflicted pain in order to gain satisfaction.

Killed a duck to feed your family and keep them from starving? Understandable.

Stole/embezzled because you wanted more power over others? Evil; you empower yourself by making others weaker.

Stole/embezzled because you thought you could use the money to save some children in the Congo from working in slave mines with the money? More than understandable... You improve the world.

Answer 8

The good is ontologically correlated to existence, as such, evil is a privation of the good. Inasmuch as human beings exist, they are not intrisically evil, but as active moral agents capable of rationality and will, yet limited by finitude, their moral choice may create the condition for the possibility of evil consequences.

Answer 9

a person is evil if they take positive delight in the misery or suffering of others.



many of us are indifferent to the sufferings of others - particularly if they benefit us directly or indirectly. most of us would rather win at competitive sports, would sooner be a dumper than a dumpee, and happily wear clothes sourced from dubious labour-practices in the third world.



but there seem also to be people who delight in inflicting suffering. at one end there are guys who date girls just so that they can dump them ('in the company of men' is a play and a film which examines this common syndrome). at the other end there are the heroes in iraq, in darfur, and formerly in nazi germany who actually enjoy raping and murdering ragheads, kaffir, and untermensch.



there seems no reason to doubt that 'evil' in this absolute sense exists - there is no particular reason why it shouldn't.



'goodness' by contrast would be the ability to take delight in another's happiness (and perhaps work for it) even when it brings no direct benefit to us.



goodness also seems to exist.

Answer 10

Looking at it from the two ends of the string, good on one end and evil or bad on the other end, real evil seems to be undefined. Knowing the span of the universe, how long should the string be? Has anyone measured it's length? Same goes for real good, it seems to be undefined. Mathematicians know of this concept - "undefined" - when they divide any amount by zero, which is the smallest magnitude there is, so as to define boundaries and limits.



How bad "evil" should be before it can be said as evil? How good "good" should be before it can be said as good? That is why we are here on this physical world - to experience every aspect of the universe. The universe is still expanding as it should. Anyone wants to define real evil? Anyone wants to define real good? Always, we are faced with this questions and we answer them based only on what we know of one end which is relative to what we know of the other end. And always, our limits, boundaries and definitions of good and evil are changing.



Therefore, I will not attempt to define evil. What may be evil for me may be good for you. What may be good for me may be evil for you. And what may be the best for me may be "just fine" for you. What may be horrible for me may be "just so-so" for you. The degree of anything is in the eye of the beholder. An act may first appear to be evil, but when the motive behind the act is understood, the act doesn't seem as evil as it was first perceived. I will not do what most religions and governments do, which is to impose my boundaries as rules for others to follow, masquerading them as ultimate truths.

Answer 11

it's just a word people use for something they think is really bad for example someone who enjoys torturing innocent people or kills people and rapes women for the fun of it someone who is cold and heartless that is evil

Answer 12

Evil, is a capacity to inflict pain, suffering, or distress on another being, without any feeling of remorse.

Answer 13

Well, I would say mean,heartless, and cluest. And if you have anymore questions or friends that have questions email me at: [e-mail].



Okay? Thank you. Good day.



- Helen

Answer 14

EVIL is a masked liar who give you 'happy choices'.

Answer 15

Hello!



I dispute your insistence that a logical/rational definition of evil excludes any faith-based definition. I contend there is NO objective justification for the concepts *good* and *evil* without their ground in an Ultimate Lawgiver. Please see my answer to a previous question in the link below.



The best naturalistic philosophy can offer is rooted in the word PRIVATION.



The word 'privation' is defined as the lack of the basic necessities or comforts of life and the condition resulting from such lack. Related to this is the idea of Perfection: A thing is perfect in which nothing is wanting of its nature, purpose or end.



Since human beings require many things to exist (food, rest, oxygen, etc.), the privation of these "basic necessities" is evil. The word 'evil', then, is rooted in the concept of the absence of good (or necessity). Note, it is not the mere absence of *any* good (a rock does not see, but it's not supposed to); it is the absence of a good which is intended or ought to be. Hence, the *deprivation* of these basic necessities is evil.



Human beings, as social mammals, must enact regulations which preserve, to the best extent possible, the retention and enjoyment of these basic necessities else society would disintegrate. A consequence of these regulations is the curtailment of some choices due to the encroachment those choices would make upon the rights of others.



Morality would then be defined as the societal rules which perpetuate the existence of society and evil is that which disrupts the system.



Of course, I could write a book on every point made, but that is not what you're asking for.



It should be obvious that nothing I've typed, so far, has gotten us closer to morality or ultimate evil because nobody has ever provided an adequate reason WHY we should respect the rights of others. Remember, many societies have thrived while committing moral atrocities (Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Roman Empire). There is an underlying reason why we should respect the rights of others, but no logical explanation has been forthcoming from the naturalistic camp.



God is a Necessary Being and, as such, is maximally perfect. If God is the Creator (designer) of all things, then perfection flows necessarily from His Being. All deviations from that design are a consequence of evil. Hence, there is an objective, ultimate standard for morality.



I suspect you may disagree, and if so, please feel free to email me.



Best wishes,

Scalia



**EDIT**



Hello again! My apologies for not making myself clear. Paragraphs 2 through 5 are abbreviated explanations of "naturalistic" morality (see paragraph 2). As I attempted to explain in paragraph 8, such a defense is inadequate.



Naturalists would say, however, that natural disasters do not affect their view of morality since "nature" is incapable of moral culpability (ought implies can). They would say *social order* can only be apprehended and regulated by human beings. It is therefore the obligation of human beings to maintain and sustain such a system in order to survive.



I have briefly described the theological idea of perfection. Please allow me to elaborate. Evil is a privation, or the absence of some good (perfection) which belongs properly to the nature of the being. There is, therefore, no positive source of evil. Things are evil not in themselves, but by reason of their relation to other things.



Again, evil is defined as a privation of form, order or due measure. In the physical order a thing is good in proportion as it possesses being. God alone is essentially being, and He alone is essentially and perfectly good. Everything else possesses limited being, and, insofar as it possesses being, it is good. When it has its due proportion of form and order and measure it is, in its own order and degree, good. Evil implies a deficiency in perfection, hence it cannot exist in God who is essentially and by nature good; it is found only in finite beings which, because of their origin from nothing, are subject to the privation of form or order or measure due them, and, through the opposition they encounter, are liable to an increase or decrease of the perfection they have (see Thomas Aquinas).



According to the nature of the perfection which it limits, evil is metaphysical, physical, or moral. Metaphysical evil is not evil properly so called; it is but the negation of a greater good, or the limitation of finite beings by other finite beings. Physical evil deprives the subject affected by it of some natural good, and is adverse to the well-being of the subject, as pain and suffering. Moral evil is found only in intelligent beings; it deprives them of some moral good. Here we have to deal with moral evil only. This may be defined as a privation of conformity to right reason and to the law of God. Since the morality of a human act consists in its agreement or non-agreement with right reason and the eternal law, an act is good or evil in the moral order according as it involves this agreement or non-agreement. When the intelligent creature, knowing God and His law, deliberately refuses to obey, moral evil results (see A.C. O'Neil).



Hence, natural disasters cannot be classified as *sin* (moral evil). Natural disasters can cause privation (evil), but there can be no moral culpability unless the disaster is caused by deliberate human or fallen angelic agency. If God is the efficient cause of a disaster (e.g. The Great Flood), then it is the consequence of His judgment of sin.



To put it in plain old country boy English: All New Yorkers are Americans, but not all Americans are New Yorkers. Similarly, all sin is evil, but not all evil is sin.



Finally, I did not say, "All derivations from...;" I said, "All deviations from..." Sorry! I couldn't resist. :-)



Best wishes,

Scalia

Answer 16

Evil is that which is most disturbing to my conscience.

Answer 17

Evil is bad.



Ha, ha, heh, heh, heh, ah ha, ha, heh, hm, hm, hm, heh, heh, ha! (Two points.)



You know what Evil is. It's when the little voice in your head says, "Don't do it." but you do it anyways because it makes you feels powerful for moment.

Answer 18

Knowingly, willingly and deliberately doing exactly what your conscience tells you not to do.

Answer 19

george steinbrenner

Answer 20

every thing that lead you to ''the wrong way''

Answer 21

http://www.just-define.com/Evil-definition.htm



Definition of evil



evil

adj 1: morally bad or wrong; "evil purposes"; "an evil influence";

"evil deeds" [syn: wicked] [ant: good]

2: having the nature of vice [syn: depraved, vicious]

3: tending to cause great harm [syn: harmful, injurious]

4: having or exerting a malignant influence; "malevolent

stars"; "a malefic force" [syn: malefic, malevolent, malign]

n 1: morally objectionable behavior [syn: immorality, wickedness,

iniquity]

2: that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune; "the

evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft

interred with their bones"- Shakespeare

3: the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice;

"attempts to explain the origin of evil in the world"

[syn: evilness] [ant: good, good]



As defined in: WordNet (r) 2.0

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Aleppo boil \A*lep"po boil\, button \button\, or evil \evil\ .

(Med.)

A chronic skin affection terminating in an ulcer, most

commonly of the face. It is endemic along the Mediterranean,

and is probably due to a specific bacillus. Called also

Aleppo ulcer, Biskara boil, Delhi boil, Oriental

sore, etc.



As defined in: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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Evil \E*vil\ ([=e]"v'l) a. [OE. evel, evil, ifel, uvel, AS.

yfel; akin to OFries, evel, D. euvel, OS. & OHG. ubil, G.

["u]bel, Goth. ubils, and perh. to E. over.]

1. Having qualities tending to injury and mischief; having a

nature or properties which tend to badness; mischievous;

not good; worthless or deleterious; poor; as, an evil

beast; and evil plant; an evil crop.

[1913 Webster]



A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit. --Matt.

vii. 18.

[1913 Webster]



2. Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt;

wicked; wrong; vicious; as, evil conduct, thoughts, heart,

words, and the like.

[1913 Webster]



Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,

When death's approach is seen so terrible. --Shak.

[1913 Webster]



3. Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or

calamity; unpropitious; calamitous; as, evil tidings; evil

arrows; evil days.

[1913 Webster]



Because he hath brought up an evil name upon a

virgin of Israel. --Deut. xxii.

19.

[1913 Webster]



The owl shrieked at thy birth -- an evil sign.

--Shak.

[1913 Webster]



Evil news rides post, while good news baits.

--Milton.

[1913 Webster]



Evil eye, an eye which inflicts injury by some magical or

fascinating influence. It is still believed by the

ignorant and superstitious that some persons have the

supernatural power of injuring by a look.

[1913 Webster]



It almost led him to believe in the evil eye. --J.

H. Newman.



Evil speaking, speaking ill of others; calumny;

censoriousness.



The evil one, the Devil; Satan.

[1913 Webster]



Note: Evil is sometimes written as the first part of a

compound (with or without a hyphen). In many cases the

compounding need not be insisted on. Examples: Evil

doer or evildoer, evil speaking or evil-speaking, evil

worker, evil wishing, evil-hearted, evil-minded.



Syn: Mischieveous; pernicious; injurious; hurtful;

destructive; wicked; sinful; bad; corrupt; perverse;

wrong; vicious; calamitous.

[1913 Webster]



As defined in: English Monolingual Dictionaries

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364 Moby Thesaurus words for "evil":

Loki, Nemesis, Set, Typhon, aberrant, abnormal, abominable,

abomination, accursed, ado, affliction, agony, amorality, angry,

anguish, annoyance, anxiety, apocalyptic, arrant, atrocious,

atrocity, awful, backsliding, bad, badness, baleful, bane, baneful,

base, baseness, befoulment, besetment, bitchy, black, blamable,

blameworthy, blight, bodeful, boding, bother, breach, bugbear,

burden, calamitous, calamity, can of worms, carnality, cataclysm,

catastrophe, catastrophic, catty, corrupt, corruption, crime,

crime against humanity, criminal, criminality, crooked,

crushing burden, crying evil, curse, damage, damaging, damnable,

dark, deadly, deadly sin, death, debt, defilement, degeneracy,

degradation, deleterious, delinquency, delinquent, depraved,

depravity, dereliction, despiteful, despoliation, destruction,

destructive, detriment, detrimental, deviant, devilry, deviltry,

diablerie, diabolism, difficult, dire, dirty, disadvantage,

disagreeable, disaster, disastrous, disease, disgrace, disgraceful,

disgusting, dishonest, dishonorable, distasteful, doomful,

dreadful, dreary, enormity, error, evil nature, evil-minded,

evil-starred, evildoing, evilness, execrable, failure, fateful,

fault, felonious, felony, fetid, flagitious, flagitiousness,

flagrant, foreboding, foul, foulness, genocide, ghastly, gloomy,

great ado, grievance, grisly, guilty act, hard, hardly the thing,

harm, harmful, hateful, havoc, headache, heavy sin, heinous,

heinousness, hideous, horrible, horrid, hurt, hurtful, ignominious,

ill, ill-boding, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, illegal,

immoral, immorality, improper, impropriety, impurity, inaccurate,

inappropriate, inauspicious, inconvenience, incorrect, indecorous,

indiscretion, inexpedient, inexpiable sin, infamous, infamy,

infection, infelicitous, inferior, infliction, iniquitous,

iniquity, injurious, injury, injustice, insidious, invalid,

knavery, knavish, lapse, lethal, loathsome, low, lowering,

malefaction, malefic, maleficence, maleficent, malevolent,

malfeasance, malign, malignant, malum, matter, menacing, mephitic,

minor wrong, mischief, mischievous, misconduct, misdeed,

misdemeanor, misery, misfeasance, misfortune, monstrous,

moral delinquency, mortal sin, nasty, naughty, nefarious,

nefariousness, nemesis, nonfeasance, not done, not the thing,

noxious, obliquity, obscene, of evil portent, off-base, off-color,

offense, offensive, ominous, omission, open wound, out-of-line,

outrage, pain, peccability, peccadillo, peccancy, peccant,

peck of troubles, perfidious, pernicious, pest, pestilence,

pestilential, plague, poison, poisonous, pollution, portending,

portentous, problem, prodigality, profligacy, putrid, rancorous,

rank, recidivism, repellent, reprehensible, reprobacy, reprobate,

repugnant, repulsive, revolting, ruin, ruinous, running sore,

sacrilegious, satanism, scandal, scandalous, scourge,

sea of troubles, shame, shameful, shameless, sin,

sin of commission, sin of omission, sinful, sinful act, sinfulness,

sinister, slip, somber, sorrow, spiteful, stinking, suffering,

terrible, the worst, thorn, threatening, torment, tort, toxic,

toxin, traitorous, transgression, treacherous, trespass, trip,

trouble, trying, turpitude, ugly, unangelicalness, unchastity,

uncleanness, underhanded, undue, unfavorable, unfit, unfitting,

unforgivable, unfortunate, ungodliness, ungoodness, unhealthy,

unkind, unlawful, unlucky, unmorality, unpardonable, unpleasant,

unprincipled, unpromising, unpropitious, unrighteous,

unrighteousness, unsaintliness, unscrupulous, unseemly, unskillful,

unspeakable, unsuitable, untoward, unutterable sin, unvirtuousness,

unworthy, venial sin, venom, vexation, vice, vicious, viciousness,

vile, vileness, villainous, villainy, virulent, visitation,

wantonness, waywardness, wicked, wickedness, woe, woeful, worry,

wrathful, wrong, wrongdoing, wrongful









As defined in: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

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evil adj. As used by hackers, implies that some system, program,

person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not worth

the bother of dealing with. Unlike the adjectives in the

cretinous/losing/brain-damaged series, `evil' does not imply

incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of goals or design criteria

fatally incompatible with the speaker's. This usage is more an esthetic

and engineering judgment than a moral one in the mainstream sense. "We

thought about adding a Blue Glue interface but decided it was too evil

to deal with." "TECO is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're

prone to typos." Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as

/eeee'vil/. Compare evil and rude.







As defined in: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

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evil



As used by a hacker, implies that some system, program,

person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be

not worth the bother of dealing with. Unlike the adjectives

in the cretinous, losing, brain-damaged series, "evil"

does not imply incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of

goals or design criteria fatally incompatible with the

speaker's. This usage is more an aesthetic and engineering

judgment than a moral one in the mainstream sense. "We

thought about adding a Blue Glue interface but decided it

was too evil to deal with." "TECO is neat, but it can be

pretty evil if you're prone to typos." Often pronounced with

the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/.



Compare evil and rude.



[Jargon File]



(1994-12-12)







As defined in: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)