Evil (idea)

The Nature of Good and Evil

The biblical story of Cain and Abel represents evil as a serpent, which lurks within every human, tempting them into sin. As is the case with all other philosophical concepts, the existence of evil is impossible to verify* and belief in it is a matter of personal opinion. Many Christians are of the opinion that God, in creating all things, must have created evil although prominent philosophers such as St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas declared that evil is not a created thing but the absence of one in a similar way to darkness or coldness. Through this analogy, evil can be understood as the absence of goodness.

In Christianity, evil is derived from free will, the freedom to do and say evil things. Because each person can choose what they do and say, they can choose to do and say something that will have the effect of hurting another. For Christians, evil arises when people make the choice to perform actions that are contrary to God’s desire. They believe that the source of evil is the ability of created beings to act and speak in a way that is out of harmony with the desires of God. Evil as a lack of goodness generally leads to wrong actions but the foundation of evil is not the action but an attitude of the heart. Evil actions are visible but an invisible desire is the underlying element behind them.

Evil is often equated with sin in the Bible, most especially in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, but this is a simplistic definition. In order for an act to be true evil, it must be committed in full consciousness of its probable consequences and not merely through foolishness or ignorance. These consequences must be embraced by the person intentionally committing the act. Therefore, what is considered evil exists depends what is considered to be sin. The Biblical idea of sin as being the failure to follow God’s commandments obviously does not appeal to atheists and even some Christians may feel that 'sins' such as coveting the possessions of others are not evil.

Evil must be defined in a different way, since many different people interpret evil as being something opposed to their own values and beliefs. Some people believe that evil is a lack of compassion and a disregard for all others yet some would regard evil as something fearful which cannot be comprehended while to others, evil is rebellion and indifference.

Social customs, traditions, or feelings cannot determine a universal sense of right and wrong and thus no such sense can truly exist. Evil must be defined by through each individual’s own values. What some consider evil others may not and that which we approve of may be frowned upon by our society. Good and evil do not exist as absolutes but only as a set of values accepted or denied by each society and outside that society have little relevance. Evil as a concept is created by society and as such continually changes and evolves throughout that society’s existence.

Few people would commit an act that they considered evil of their own free will and those who commit such acts do so because they have not thought them through. Therefore, acts that are perceived by the majority of society as evil are either mistakes or committed by someone who believed that there was nothing wrong with such acts. If this person’s views were predominant within his society then there would be no complaint.

Evil cannot exist in a moral vacuum, without goodness with which to compare it, yet because good and evil can only be defined in relation to one another, they are fluid concepts completely dependent on the opinions and point of view of the individual. Therefore, evil cannot exist as a constant moral force but is only the result of applying a set of moral guidelines to a given situation.