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What Is Good And What Is Evil? - Page 2

You make a very good point Far. The problem is that it still comes down to your own perception. Point in case, in the Old Testament, God many times simply destroyed everyone in the city including the children and then gave the remaining virgins over to the people. Now I wasn't there, but why else would you give the virgins to your army? The point it that no self respecting christian would say that God did an evil thing by annihilating everyone including innocent children then giving the virgins over to do with as they would. Yet you already implied that these were amongst evil things. Your perception of evil is molded by your religious beliefs. If evil was evil, then it really doesn't matter who or what does it, or what the reason is. What is the difference if a God kills everyone in a city or a man kills everyone in a house? I'm sure they both have reasons that could be justified by some method. The justification of deed is what prevents true evil from existing in my opinion, because true evil then becomes the opinion and perception of the person seeing the evil. Thus it is tempered by the religion that person believes in.

Not to harp, but the US government has been accused of torture, and it has been shown that they are torturing prisoners at Abu Ghirabi. If torturing someone is a contruct of evil, then our government must be evil as well. But as seen in another thread, this too can be justified for the right purposes depending on who is viewing it. I'm sure our justification for it does fly with Muslims from the country its happening to, and I imagine they too view our torture for terrorist information as evil.
IMO of course.

Offtopic but, Man! I love philosophical discussion, there is really no right answer here because everyone will see if from a different view point! Thats why philosophical discussions are so much fun!

Edited: konquererz on 8th Jul, 2006 - 11:24pm

Evil What Good What

This subject is like asking, "if a tree falls in the forest when no one is around does it make a sound?" To establish 'good' and 'evil' there must be a basis. Without religion, whether it is around a deity (God, Allah, etc.) or around a more ancient pagan religion such as worshipping the sun, there is no basis for good and evil. There must be a law that governs 'good' and 'evil'. That law is usually religion based in some sort of fashion. The followers of the Manson family were brainwashed into thinking that what they were doing was good, as to where our basis tells us that it was evil.

Imagine a world where humans never had a basis for 'good' or 'evil'. There was never any God, element, celestial being or anything to worship. We would be talking about a world full of humans with no subconscious (which I believe is where the little angel and devil meet to tell you what you are doing is right or wrong). We would be animals, never being able to think in the abstract as animals do. No soul. The world would be made up of nothing but animals and plants. Complete chaos.

What Is Good And What Is Evil? Health & Special Psychology

Thank you for seeing that. If evil was evil no matter what, then it wouldn't change with each persons view. Thus evil is not a real thing in my opinion, just a construct. See, evil is given a face in religion as satan, the devil, or some other being that is the incarnation of evil. If evil cannot be defined with an absolute definition out side of religion, then it is a construct of the mind and of religion. Remember, all suicide bombers think that they are doing the right thing, yet most outside islam consider them evil.

Page 2 Evil What Good What

There are at least two problems with this discussion. One would be that no one has defined evil or good yet. Hard to discuss abstract concepts without a standard for the subjects. Second, it's impossible to separate religions from discussions of socio-economics of any land. While religious rights and wrongs are, for the most part, based on the needs and basic structure of the people contriving them, in these times they are intermingled so strong that they are one.

If good and evil do exist, it would seem that they are like beauty, in the eye of the beholder.

Evil What Good What

I do not believe good nor evil. If one persons image of good and evil and right and wrong can be changed by how they were treated in life (a kid with a father that beats him might think beating is okay, when other people may not) then who is there to say what the real good and evil is? There is a main idea of good and evil and right and wrong, for example what Hitler did was considered evil to most people (and I agree that what he did was completly "wrong" at least in my own idea of wrong) but to some people what he did was right, and they thought Jewish people were evil.I do think there is a main idea of right and wrong that has all was been there. If you do something so wrong everyone thinks it's wrong, you will to start to feel guilty even if before you were sure it was right.

Edited: Just me on 28th Jan, 2007 - 6:48am

What Is Good And What Is Evil?

I think there is a clear distinction between good and evil. Good refers to improving the quality of your life and for others too. Good is never selfish nor does it seeks personal gain. Evil is wilfully harming others and deriving perverse satisfaction from it. Evil is never satisfied and is always yearning to do more. Evil is watching someone who tries to help others fall flat on his face and laughing at that individual rather than offer assistance. Unfortunately, Evil always seem to prevail in this world but if we still believe in Good, then hopefully Good will overthrow Evil.

What Good What Evil - Page 2

Religion isn't at all necessary for moral behavior. Morality is subject to biological and practical reinforcement (in the form of societal approval), and one would probably find that most atheists are just as well-behaved as any typical church-going individual.

One could argue, however, that moral behavior, and thus the concepts of good and evil, are not possible without some level of intellectual understanding, that understanding being in the form of dogma, social mores, or conclusions reached from one's own meditation.

Once we advance beyond that first conclusion, a disclaimer is necessary; good and evil aren't simple. Countless books have been written, and people spend their entire academic lives trying to reach a deeper understanding of the Supreme False Dichotomy. In a utilitarian sense, evil is what goes against the good of society, which is easy to disprove by counter-example (slavery is very good for the stability of society; this example is debatable, but there are others, and there are flaws in the logic that deserve much more attention than I can afford to give here.) Many objectivist believe Ayne Rand's words that "All that which is proper to the life of a rational being is the good; All that which destroys it is the evil." To me, that is severely wanting, particularly because it stands on the shoulders of Kant, who believed that only rational being can be moral objects, which seems not only to imply that mis-treating those not capable of rational thought is on solid ground, but fails to explain why we don't throw the mentally impaired or elderly out on the street (as is a common counter-argument in the issue of animal rights.)

The Answer: N/A

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What Good What Evil Psychology Special & Health - Page 2

Gulp

Use of the word "Good" as an opposite of "Evil" is actually wrong. The opposite of good is bad. The opposite of angelic is demonic. Is there an actual opposite to "evil"? perhaps pious would fit the bill?

I prefer the terms "right" and "wrong".

"Evil" is a purely religious term. It denotes actions and thoughts which originate under the influence of the Fallen Angel. It also denotes actions of a nature which are performed consciously and without conscience.

"Evil" is just a word. It's became an accepted word in the English language, but this word didn't actually exist way-back-when. The earliest reference to Lucifer/ Satan after his fall from grace was "Vile". Maybe this will shed some light on the subject?