What is evil? Evil is any force, being or activity that increases human suffering. It is a negative force, concerned with loss and deprivation. It subtracts something from the universe, or interferes with human welfare. Nonetheless evil is relative: what causes pleasure for some may cause pain for others. There are few instances of absolute evil, though some actions and events have come close.

Christian scholars identify three main types of evil: physical, moral, and metaphysical.

Physical evil is that which causes harm to the body or the mind. This kind of evil need not be conscious or deliberate -- a car accident may be an evil event, though there was no bad intent. Similarly we might speak of an "evil storm" on the horizon -- it looks like it will cause suffering, but we don't truly ascribe evil intent to it. Of course, deliberate (unsolicited) bodily injury, or the thwarting of a person's full development, are also evil. The oppression of an underclass is evil because it restricts the development of the members -- again this need not be overt or deliberate to qualify as evil.

Moral evil is deliberate departure from an accepted moral code. This sort of evil can take two aspects. The first is when you do something that you know to be wrong - the will acting against the guidance of the conscience. In this sense moral evil can exist even for the atheist. The second is acting against the precepts of religion - committing sin. Someone who departs unknowing from such codes does not do evil. Thus the "pagans" or "savages" whom Christian missionaries tried to convert did not do evil in the eyes of the missionaries when found "in a state of nature" -- but did do so if they were "converted" to Christianity but then reverted to their native customs.

Metaphysical evil is that which exists due to the structure of the universe. This category generates the most lively debates. Some do not hold that it exists at all - that decay and death are a part of the order of life, and are thus not negative. Others hold that they cause suffering of others, and are thus evil. These latter must then find reasons to justify this kind of evil in the universe of a benevolent God. The Christian solution to this problem is the concept of original sin. The imperfections of the world are a result of Adam and Eve's original mistake in the Garden of Eden.

For Christians, a related topic is the "problem of evil". If God is benevolent, why does He cause or at least permit suffering? This is a topic for another node.

Evil is better defined as the absence, not the opposite, of good. Just as a vacuum is the absence of matter, or a hole is the absence of ground. Thus, just as it is possible to have a ground without holes, it is possible to have good without evil.

Once defined as an absence, we arrive at the conclusion that, by itself evil, like nothing, does not exist.

See also: The problem of evil

Evil is a concept that heavily relies upon perception. When doing "evil" deeds in order to execute an act of great goodness, does society consider an evil to have been committed? What if this goodness is only in the mind of the one who executes the deeds? In both cases, goodness exists, but only in the former is the goodness agreed upon by all (or at least most) members of society. Does this trivialize the pure intentions of the person engaging in so-called evil acts?

If the individual intentionally goes against the morals of society, has an evil necessarily been committed? What if those morals are in themselves evil (as viewed by a person from another society with different morals)? Under the assumption that evil is the opposite of good, then a good has been committed, but at the same time, an evil has also been committed, as the morality of society has been challenged.

This leads us to the conclusion that the only way to judge what is good and what is evil is to take a society and its morals and use them as a guideline. Societies do change, however, and it must be noted that morals change as well. As morals develop and evolve, the definitions of good and evil can be drastically altered, or, in the rare case, completely transposed. Due to these constantly-changing rules of societies, good and evil are destined to only be defined moral and immoral, respectively.

Evil, Ultimate.
Anatgonist in Terry Gilliam's 1981 film, Time Bandits.

Imprisoned within the Fortress of Infinite Darkness, he's rather upset about how the Creator has been handling things, and a little irate that he's imprisoned within said Fortress. So, he makes plans to steal a map to all the wormholes in existance so he may escape and wreak havok upon creation. The map, as it turns out, is already stolen once-over by a pack of Dwarves in the former employ of God.

Evil goes about trapping the dwarves and their young English boy companion, and obtains the map. Unfortunatly for him (and fortunately for Existence), the prisoners escape and bring a plethora of heroes from myriad different time eras to fight Evil and rewin the map. Unfortunatly, Evil defends himself from all of these attacks (apparently Ultimate Evil is not weak to Cowboys, tanks, ray guns, etc, etc...).

Fortunatly, the Supreme Being comes down from on high and blows up Evil, sending chunks of Evil everywhere. He then rehires the thieving dwarves and sends the young boy home. Unfortunately, a piece of Evil came back with him and burns down his house. His parents find the Evil in a toaster oven, and against the boy's protests, touch it and blow up.
Evil is always on duty.

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Evil was my favorite character from Time Bandits. He certainly had some of the best lines:

• "God isn't interested in technology. He knows nothing of the potential of the microchip or the silicon revolution. Look how he spends his time. Forty-three species of parrots, nipples for men."
• "When I have understanding of computers I shall be the Supreme Being!"
• "If I were creating a world I wouldn't mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o'clock, day one."
• "You are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence."

Evil was played by David Warner.

Back to The Dhammapada

Chapter Nine -- Evil

1. Hasten to do good and restrain your
   mind from evil. One who is slow in doing good,
   one's mind delights in evil.
   
2. Should a person commit evil, let one
   not do it again and again. Let one not find pleasure
   therein, for painful is the accumulation of evil.
   
3. Should a person do good, let one do
   it again and again. Let one find pleasure therein,
   for blissful is the accumulation of good.
   
4. It may be well with the evil-doer as long
   as the evil ripens not, but when it does ripen, then
   the evil doer sees (the painful results of) one's evil deeds.
   
5. It may be ill with the doer of good as long
   as the good ripens not, but when it does ripen
   then the doer of good sees (the pleasant results of)
   one's good deeds.
   
6. Think not lightly of evil, saying, "It
   will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water
   pot filled; likewise, the fool, gathering it little by
   little, fills oneself with evil.
   
7. Think not lightly of good, saying, "It
   will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water
   pot filled; likewise, the wise person, gathering it
   little by little, fills oneself with good.
   
8. Just as a trader with a small escort and
   great wealth would avoid a perilous route, or
   just as one desiring to live avoids poison, even
   so should one shun evil.
   
9. If on the one hand there is no wound, one
   may even carry poison in it. Poison does not
   affect one who is free from wounds, and for one
   who does no evil, there is no ill.
   
10. Like fine dust thrown against the wind,
    evil falls back upon that fool who offends an
    inoffensive, pure and guiltless person.
    
11. Some are born in the womb; the wicked
    are born in hell; the devout go to heaven; the
    stainless pass into Nibbana.
    
12. Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean,
    nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere
    in the world is there a place where one may escape
    from the results of evil deeds.
    
13. Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean,
    nor by entering into mountain clefts, nowhere
    in the world is there a place where one will not
    be overcome by death.

eurodemo = E = evil and rude

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.

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.

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.

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*The existence of evil as a force rather than the existence of evil actions or people.

As a political scientist and a history buff, I've had the opportunity to study more than few evil deeds and evil people. Evil seems to come from two sources, either an inability to see others as human, or from an overblown sense of self. Ted Bundy never saw his victims as human. He felt nothing, and never believed that he could be touched. HIs self-confidence never cracked until the last day before his execution. He never thought anyone was really going to execute him. To him, his victims had no value beyond his pleasure. As people, they did not exist.

Almost to a man, evildoers see themseves as good. The confirmed psychopath who does evil because he can is more the stuff of novels than real life. They do exist but usually perform lesser, more localized evils. Serial killers they may be, but few sink to the level of genocide. They must hide in the shadows. Without the appeal of a transcendent idea, sociopaths cannot rise to positions of power and influence. The reason is simple: these people are nuts and anyone who comes to know them will recognize their madness before they attain real power.

It takes an idea, be it faith or ideology, to move a psychopath on to the stage of a Hitler or Pol Pot. The greatest evils of all are done by people who believe they are good. Adolf Hitler really believed that the Jews were a negative force that destroyed everything they came near. Consider Elie Wiesel's experiences in the concentration camps related in his short book Night. Wiesel recounts how as he and his fellow concentration camp inmates were run constantly in and out of showers. Now why would the Nazis do this to people whom they were expending as few resources on as possible? Consider the water and facilities costs for this, and you realize that they were trying to wash something away, as if Jewish people secreted some type of poison.

Fear too plays a role, for fear often blinds better people to the reality they face until they too have become party to madness. The Salem Witch Trials and the Spanish Inquisition were historical examples of people using torture and murder to preserve the truth of the Prince of Peace. They defined evil as heresy while forgetting that Jesus Christ spent his time among the samaritans, lepers and tax collectors.