Nature of good and evil

[BEHEMONAUT]

I want to appologize beforehand if such a post already exists, I have neither the time (nor the attention span, given the range of topics discussed) to search the forum for such a post. But I am curious as to what people here, people I can actually correspond with, believe on this issue. I am not too informed when it comes to established philosophy and the opinion as such on the issue- the extent of my knowledge on the subject is something I read (I am not sure if it was Kant or Nietzche (excuse me if my spelling is wrong)-that said (and this is neither referenced nor direct) "the only good in the world is a good will." While this sounds feasible, from my understanding, it is besides the point. I am curious as to what people think of the nature of evil. Is evil a force that exists outside of the choices people make, a kind of force that takes control of people, or is it just something that people make the choice to participate in? The same questions apply to good as well, if anyone wishes to comment.

[99Percent]

Well, this is a non-theistic, secular forum, so we obviously don't believe in evil in the supernatural sense. Those of us who believe in atheistic morality must believe that evil only comes from ourselves - from man. You might say that evil can come from nature such as diseases, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc, but that we really wouldn't call it evil because the word "evil" denotes choice. We can't say that nature chooses to inflict evil on us.

[BEHEMONAUT]

Originally posted by 99Percent
Those of us who believe in atheistic morality must believe that evil only comes from ourselves - from man.

So you believe that it exists then, which I agree with to a certain extent, but to me, it's more of an assumption than a fact. Perhaps it's even a convention, which brings up another question; does someone really choose to be evil, or is it something that others choose to call them for whatever reason?

[Nowhere357]

Originally posted by BEHEMONAUT
Perhaps it's even a convention, which brings up another question; does someone really choose to be evil, or is it something that others choose to call them for whatever reason?
When I look at the 'evolution' of morality, I see that it moves in a definite direction - toward freedom and responsibility. I think evil is the willful moving away from this direction.

[phil]

A simple (yet vague) definition of evil would be: Taking something good (action, desire etc.) out of it's proper context.

For example, buying a candy bar or stealing it. Buying the candy bar is beneficial to you (you get what you want) and the store (they stay in business). Stealing the candy bar is wrong because it benifits you at the expense of others.

Basically, selfishness and haughtiness are probably the greatest causes of evil.

The best definition I can think of for evil right now is: A disposition to gratify oneself at the expense of others.

As I think about it, that definition seems to be pretty good. Anytime someone lies, cheats, steals, murders, rapes etc. they're doing it for themselves; because of pride or selfishness. Pride and selfishness can lead to other things like jealosy, hate etc. I'll pop back in if I think of a better definition for evil.

-phil

[xorbie]

I think the classical definition of evil is knowingly causing harm and feeling good about it. However, many people would consider a revenge torture of sorts not evil, so this definition is not perfect, but I believe it is pretty standard.

Myself, I don't really believe in evil, I think it is a useless concept. I pretty much agree with what Nietzsche said in Beyond Good and Evil on this one.