Evil

In religion and ethics, Evil refers to the "bad" aspects of the behaviour and reasoning of human beings — those which are void of conscience, and show a penchant for destruction. Evil is sometimes defined as the absence of a good. In most cultures, the word is used to describe acts, thoughts, and ideas which are thought to (either directly or causally) bring about affliction and death — the opposite of goodness, which itself refers to aspects which are life-affirming, peaceful, and constructive.

Evil can be said to be present in everyone’s life. Evil destroys life, threatens hope, harasses desire, and obliterates both past and future. We experience it, expect it, fight against it, and yet are unclear as to what it is. But we know we want to escape its clutches. Every culture and thus every religion has stories, art and songs describing its origin, its destructive nature, its faces, and how to deal with it – including its ultimate disappearance. The advancement of human culture is the story of human attempts to overcome the evils of war, poverty, hunger, ignorance, suffering, and death.

Evil lurks in individual and communal life. Evil is manifested in the human situation most obviously in the form of unprovoked hatred. Such hatred can be aroused from within the individual or group through jealousy, ignorance or due to unexplained extra-personal (spiritual) forces.

Evil enters into our individual world in a myriad of ways resulting in suffering, fear, anxiety, ignorance, alienation, and a sense of purposelessness. Although the evil causes of these feelings is manifold, these chaotic feelings are consistent. Evil is present in various degrees. Sometimes its presence overwhelms us such that we are numb to everything else in our life. At other times its presence hovers only in a slight unformed sense of anxiety. As threat or anxiety, it is always there.

A society without evil does not exist. The purpose of law and organization is to reduce the evil among us. In its most intense form evil destroys our communal relationships and our shared common good thus forcing each person to stand alone against evil. Yet, together, with a communal past; together in a common present, humans have defeated or diminished many of the world's evils.

Etymology

The modern English word 'Evil' (Old English Yfel) and its current living cognates such as the German 'Übel' are widely considered to come from a Proto-Germanic reconstructed form *Ubilaz, comparable to the Hittite huwapp- ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European form *wap- and suffixed zero-grade form *up-elo-. Other later Germanic forms include Middle English evel, ifel, ufel Old Frisian evel (adjective & noun), Old Saxon ubil, Old High German ubil, and Gothic ubils. The root meaning is of obscure origin though shown to be akin to modern English 'over' (OE ofer) and 'up' (OE up, upp) with the basic idea of "transgressing".

Evil as a religious concept

Most ancient polytheist cultures lacked a concept of "evil" as a human quality or as a quality of human actions, or if they had such a concept, they did not place as much importance on it as have their monotheist successors. This was also the case in many indigenous cultures, which had a concept of wrong doing, but deities, when present, were much closer to embodiments of elemental forces of nature. In the world of the Odyssey and Iliad epics Greek poems, for example, there are acknowledged human virtues such as honor, faithfulness, and vengeance (which later became a sin in Christian thought) but no direct corollary to the modern concept of Evil. Likewise, Homeric characters are subject to judgement by the gods, but that judgement is often questionable as the gods themselves have imperfect, human-like characteristics.

In a number of religious traditions, human beings are considered to be "governed" by innate tendencies towards selfishness and pride; qualities that are considered Evil (see original sin). In others, humans may be considered naturally good, and Evil to be a 'force' that tempts them away from their natural state. Evil may be personified in the form of a figure of Evil, such as Satan, Loki, or Ahriman.

Two major perspectives

In its broadest sense a religion is a way of life that promises and promotes total change. Religions describe the reasons for the evil in our lives, how to rid ourselves of that evil, and how our world would be without evil. When looked at from a global perspective there are currently two major religious perspectives on evil: Eastern (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto) and Western (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). There are many other perspectives but, for the most part, these two dominate the lives of most of the people on earth.

Western

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam believe in the same God - a God who created the world and everything in it. Combined with the stories about the creation of the world in the Bible is the story about the beginning of evil that is present with humans at the beginning and continues with us till this day. And, with the story of evil’s origin and continuance is the intellectual challenge inherent in the religious belief in a good, all powerful, just, creating God. To help understand more fully the intellectual challenge of good and evil, many thoughtful people in the West have found the distinction between moral and natural evil helpful. Moral evil is when the evil is caused by humans. War is an example. Natural evil is when the evil is caused by nature. Earthquakes and hurricanes are examples. Of course nothing is as simple as this distinction. Particularly when the creating, good God is also thought to be all powerful and therefore responsible for every things’ continuing existence. Added to this view of a creating God is a sense among many people that this God is like the Greek god Fate who is an impersonal determinator of everything that happens on earth. In this latter instance the previous distinction made by theologians and philosophers is useless in the face of God’s all encompassing direction of the world and the demand for a type of faith advocating that God knows best, that God knows all, that God is good and, therefore, everything that happens is for the best. Evil becomes good in the face of this vision of God working God’s will.

Each of these three religions emphasizes God’s relationship to evil differently but they begin at the same place. Each also offers different rituals and prayers to deal with evil. All affirm God’s will that we alleviate evil such as the command to love those in need and the Ten Commandments. All realize that we must go much further than the simple command to love each other and expand their view of how evil will be diminished only if we follow God’s commands dealing with the environment, each other, marriage, eating, and property. Some of the names will be similar, some different when it comes to describing the end of all evil but it will always include a description as a time and place where God will be evidently present to earths’ peoples while they live in peace with each other.

Judaism

In its ancient writings, the Tanack, Judaism portrays a slow evolution of the source and cause of evil. Certainly natural evils have their origin in God. Moral evil, and maybe even some natural evil, originate in the first and subsequent humans. In either case evil does exist and Jews must work to alleviate it in both a negative and positive fashion. We see some of the negative ways in the Ten Commandments: do not stand, do not bear false witness, and do not kill. We see many of the positive ways among the 613 commandments that God has commanded them to follow: help the widow, forgive debts, pray, worship, eat only certain foods, gather with those of like mind to follow God’s will and promise. For God does promise that there will come a time when there will be no evil. There will be peace. The Kingdom of God will be present on this earth.

The Tanack also describes the Jewish people wrestling with the issue of God’s justice. If God is just, powerful, good and creating, then when we do something evil we should be punished and if we do something good, we should be rewarded. The Book of Job brings to the fore the issue of God’s justice. In this story an innocent man, Job, has many horrible things happen to him. His friends tell him he must have done something evil. That is why he is being punished. Job protests before God and his friends that he is innocent. What is happening to him is not just. God, at the end of the story, tells Job that “yes” God knows Job is innocent but Job should recognize that the existence of evil does not always fit into the human way of understanding life. In other words, evil is ultimately incomprehensible to humans. God’s ways are not the way of humans.

Christianity

All the early Christians were Jews. Jesus and his followers were Jews. The Jewish Tanack was, by the time of Jesus, part of their thought, language, and culture. Jesus demonstrated by his miracles and preaching that he came to overcome the evil of body, mind, and spirit. He healed the blind, increased food for the hungry, and enabled the lame to walk. He told people that if they give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked they would be part of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Peace. He told them if they loved and served everyone – especially the neediest – they would be part of God’s Kingdom. The authorities of the time saw Jesus and his message as dangerous and killed him. All evidence from the ancient Christian writings, the New Testament, indicates that Jesus foresaw his death as a means to hasten the coming of God’s Kingdom. In time Jesus’ followers came to believe that Jesus was God. Thus the suffering and death of Jesus was in some way the suffering and death of God. God suffered so evil would be destroyed. To God’s message in Job about the incomprehensibility of suffering was added the incomprehensibility of God’s suffering and death in Jesus to bring about the cessation of evil and the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Islam

Islam shares the same all powerful, just creating and loving God with Christians and Jews. However, the God portrayed by Islam demands total acceptance of evil in one’s life as part of God’s plan. We are to submit to God’s will, as the word “Islam” itself indicates when translated into English. The protest of Job and the cry of Jesus on the cross “My God, my God why have your forsaken me?” find no place here. What Western philosophies may describe as moral and natural evil are all part of God working God’s will upon this universe. Indeed humans can create evil and inflict evil upon each other but God is always there in some way responsible for it. The just God will judge these evil doers at death and at the end of the world. God commands us to alleviate the consequences of evil that surround us by following God’s law. In particular, to believe in God, to share our wealth with those around us, especially those in need, and follow the Quran. If we do that, we will enter into Paradise where no evil exists, only the peaceful satisfaction of our senses.

Between East and West: Zoroastrianism

In the originally Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, the world is a battle ground between the god of good, Ahura Mazda, and the god of Evil, Angra Mainyu or Ahriman. The final resolution of the struggle between good and Evil was supposed to occur on a day of Judgement, in which all beings that have lived will be led across a bridge of fire, and those who are Evil will be cast down forever. In Iranian belief, angels and saints are beings sent to help us achieve the path towards goodness.

Zoroastrianism has relatively few adherents today. Most of them live in India. Yet their ancient beliefs have left an imprint upon all the Western religions. Central to this religion is the belief that there is a war on this earth between the good spirit and the evil spirit. Humans are free to join one or the other; free to base their life on what is evil or what is good. We know what is good or evil by using our minds to determine which is which. In so determining we direct our life, our after life, and our eternity. The evil spirit attempts to trick us, to lead us astray, to make us think evil is good and good is bad. If we allow ourselves to be misled we will be judged accordingly upon death and at the end of time when the supreme good will destroy the evil spirit and all who follow it.

A Matter of Perspective: West and East

Those who do not believe in a Western-like God naturally understand the battle between good and evil differently, as well as, the role of human beings in that battle. Actually those who come at the experience of individual and communal evil from the perspective of the Eastern Religions do not believe evil is as real as those in the Western Religions. Neither do they believe that the destruction of evil resides outside the human being in some type of personal, all powerful, all knowing, just God. Actually they do not believe in such a God. From their perspective, the evil humans’ experience, while hurtful and destructive, will disappear when humans realize its cause. In realizing its cause the means to alleviate it is obvious and the world as we know it will disappear along with the evils inherent in it. The religions of south and Southeast Asia (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism) see this evil world as caused by karma which will continue death after death, birth after birth increasing both individual and communal evil. We are not so much a body and a soul but rather the consequence of what we do. If we do evil, we become, and contribute to, evil. We must escape this continual rebirth and be liberated (Moksha in Hinduism; loka in Jainism; nirvana in Buddhism). We and the world we experience disintegrate when we are liberated. Such liberation will occur if we adhere to dharma, the proper individual and communal path to liberation. The religions of East Asia (Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto, and Mahayana Buddhism) experience the chaos of evil but see it as caused by disharmony. Each has its own means of bringing back the original harmony of the universe.

The East

Hinduism

Hinduism accepts the worldview of South and Southeast Asia. Our karma is shaped by our desires. It is these desires that cause evil and bind us to the world as we experience it. This world is not real. What is real is beyond desire and the confusions that exist as a consequence of such desires. The dharma necessary to stop both desire and ignorance is described differently in the various branches of Hinduism. Common to many of these branches is the necessity to live our state o life to the fullest. The consequence of this is many times described as our place in the caste system. Three different paths are found to escape evil: the way of action (karma yoga), the way of devotion (bhakti yoga) and the way of knowledge (jnana yoga). Following these paths perfectly result in the destruction of individual evil and the individual as he/she now exists.

Theravada Buddhism

The teaching of Siddhartha, the Buddha, begins by facing those evils in life that cause suffering: birth, decay, illness, death, the presence of who and what we hate, separation from who and what we love, the inability to obtain what we desire. It begins here because these evils, and their consequent suffering, will only disappear when we realize that they are unavoidable. We will always suffer. To rid ourselves of all suffering and evil we must rid ourselves of all desires – including the desire for existence. If we can rid ourselves of all desires we disappear into Nirvana – beyond all being and non-being. The means to Nirvana is the eightfold path: correct belief, aspirations, speech, conduct, means of livelihood, endeavor, mindfulness and meditation.

Jainism

Jainism believes that there is something that populates the world that we cannot know directly because it has no dimensions and there is nothing material about it. This is called jiva in Jainism and it may be translated “soul.” Souls are perfect, happy, all-knowing, and eternal. Their karma condemns them to be reborn in materiality as anything we can sense. The basic evil is that of not knowing what our karma has done and is doing to us. If we can totally realize what we are doing to ourselves and others we would return to who we really are and rise to the outer reaches of the universe, loka, where the all-knowing souls exist without the evil of materiality. We can liberate ourselves by living a life of strict asceticism – a life only nuns and monks can live since everyone else is attached to a family of some sort. One of the vows taken by nuns and monks is the promise never to take life, never to injure someone either consciously or unconsciously. The perfect living of this and the other four vows (no vices, no possessions, no sexual pleasure, no attachments) enables one to be all-knowing, break the eternity of reincarnation, and, realize one’s jiva has entered loka.

East Asia

Lao Tzu (b. 604 B.C.E.) the probable author of the Tao-te-ching and the founder of Taoism (276 B.C.E.) says that when someone is always ready to talk about something they do not know what they are talking about and when someone is silent, they usually do. He would say that this is especially true about evil. We usually find that as we move beyond our own culture in considering permanent and all pervasive topics such as evil, silence prompts more understanding than further conversation. This is certainly true with Taoism. For Taoism claims, like many of the previous religions, that the cause of the evil we encounter is our lack of knowledge (experience) about reality itself. Another name for reality is Tao. Tao is the eternal harmony of eternal energies. Any resistance to this eternal harmony causes the evident evils in the universe. Any permanence disrupts the harmony. Any assertion, any striving and attempt “to stand out” results in disharmony. Our goal is to have no goal but to become one with Tao through living a simple and natural life and death. Such a life of individuals and society reduces evil, disharmony, and increases the evident reality of the eternal harmony.

Confucianism

While the religions of South and Southeast Asia emphasize the necessity of the individual to conquer the evil within by living the proper way of life, the religions of East Asia place a greater emphasis upon both individual and community to overcome evil. Confucius (b. 551 B.C.E.) puts special emphasis upon the necessity of people living together in harmony. The customs and laws of the state provide the necessary framework for this to happen. Chaotic evils such as warring nations, non-loving families, envious business people, and destructive farming practices come from the lack of virtue in individuals and a society that does not provide fertile ground for the growth of such virtue. We are our living connections to other people and the entire universe. To live a virtuous life results in harmony and peace. To destroy or disfigure these relations introduces evil into societal living. There are, according to Confucianism, both inner and outer virtues enable us to live a harmonious life. The primary inner virtue, for example, is jen (humaneness). Those who live this virtue continually think of the other person’s good rather than their own. An example of outer virtue is li which is acting properly in our relationships with each other: parents and children; men and women; those in authority and those without such authority. Living a virtuous life results in a society without evil.

Mahayana Buddhism

Many varieties of Buddhism exist. As Buddhism moved east out of India it spread some of its basic ways of thinking and dealing with evil. It also changed as it entered into the East Asian cultures. These changes may be described under the heading of Mahayana Buddhism, which includes Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren, and Tantric. The differences between these Buddhist ways of life are significant but one common belief among Mahayana Buddhists, and differentiating it from Theravada Buddhists, is the conviction among Theravada Buddhists that there is only one Buddha and among Mahayana Buddhists that all creatures possess the nature of Buddha. Also Mahayana Buddhists emphasize that in overcoming evil we are not alone: help is available from heavenly Buddhas and other compassionate beings. Central to the destruction of evil, according to the Mahayana way of life, is compassion. A life of compassion enables us to realize our Buddha nature. We may take many lifetimes to become fully compassionate but when and as we do so we empower others to become more compassionate. Through such personal and communal growth in compassion, evil is diminished as we realize who we really are. Such empowerment may come by faith in the heavenly Buddha expressed through chant or by total belief at death (Pure Land Buddhism). Or such empowerment might come through various types of meditation (Zen Buddhism) leading to an enlightenment that is the source of all compassion.

Shinto

Almost all religions have their roots in other religions. Shinto in particular has its roots in the indigenous religions of Japan. A central idea to this religion is the term kami whose origins are lost in the beginnings of the Japanese people. It may mean gods, especially the creating gods, the spirits of ancestors, or any force or aspect of nature that produces feelings of awe, respect, and devotion. Most of the time the word is translated into English as “sacred.” One meaning of the word Shinto is the way of the kami. Failure to be in harmony with the kami results in chaos or evil within one’s self as well as one’s community. A central reason for such disharmony is individualism expressed in a lack of reverence for nature, parents, ancestors, community, and Japan both as a nation and as a land. Everything is connected, harmonious. To disconnect oneself from any of these is to cause disharmony which results in evil. Disharmony is an impurity that must be cleansed and such cleansing comes about mainly through ceremonies of purification by Shinto priests. These purification rituals carried out at all levels of life and all places enables the follower of Shinto to right the consequences of evil that destroy our world.

Science, Religion, and Evil

A review of the major religious influences in our world only scratches the surface of why evil exists, ways to reduce or destroy it and stories that foster hope for a world without it. The religions offer a complete way of dealing with evil: thoughts, actions, and gatherings with other people.

People have also always had ways that were not explicitly religious to deal with evil. Within the last five hundred years one particular way that we now call science has arisen to deal with many evils that have destroyed humans over the centuries – such evils as hunger, disease, ignorance, and inhospitable weather. During the last one hundred years in particular the sciences have provided ways for people to live comfortably and longer than ever before. Before the turn of the 19th century science seemed to offer unending progress and the destruction of all evil. The 20th century is a clear witness that humans needed something beside science and its handmaid technology to overcome life-destroying evil. Science during this time may have enabled many people to live comfortably and longer but it also provided some people with the power to destroy the entire earth. The twin evils of universal destruction and treating humans as commodities of commerce challenge contemporary religions and sciences to look more deeply into why evil exists, how to rid ourselves of it, and how a world without evil will come about.

Philosophy and ethics

The discussion of "Evil" in philosophy mirrors the religious perspectives. In the Western world, some philosophers reject the idea of evil. Plato, for example, argued that that which we call Evil is merely ignorance and that which we call good is merely that which everyone desires. Those who assert a more universal code of ethics view Plato's definition as one based merely on situation and not based on ethics or values. Plato's criticism is thus itself criticized as an attack on ethics itself, suggesting that philosophy can have meaning and value without ethics and the honor associated with ethical belief. Benedict de Spinoza was even more radical, according to him the concept of good and evil is merely one of personal inclinations: "Such things as please us, we denominate good, those which displease us, evil."

In some philosophical belief systems, evil consists of a willful deviation from a code of laws (written or unwritten) or moral standard, usually ascribed to a deity. According to this definition, people who, for example, reject a certain belief or engage in practices against this code are engaged in evil acts. According to other belief systems, evil consists of intentionally doing harm, and so-called "victimless crimes" should not be considered evil or immoral. It is important to note, however, that followers of the first definition believe that these "victimless crimes" do indeed have victims, usually the moral soul of the person committing the act.

The duality of 'Good versus Evil' is expressed, in some form or another, by many cultures. Those who believe in the duality theory of Evil believe that evil cannot exist without good, nor good without evil, as they are both objective states and opposite ends of the same scale.

A similar term, malice (from the Latin malus meaning "bad"), describes the deliberate human intent to harm and be harmful. "Evil", by contrast, tends to represent a more elemental concept; a disembodied spirit that is natural and yet abominable. Whereas "malice" is specifically concerned with the act itself, "evil" is the cause of a malicious act.

Is evil universal?

A fundamental question is whether there is a universal, transcendent definition of evil, or whether evil is determined by one's social or cultural background. C. S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, maintained that there are certain acts that are universally considered evil, such as rape and murder. On the other hand, it is hard to find any act that was not acceptable in some society. The Greeks held favorable views regarding homosexual relationships between male youths and adult men. Less than 150 years ago the United States of America, Great Britain, and many other countries practiced slavery of the African race that lasted for over 400 years. The Nazis, during World War II, found genocide acceptable, as did the Imperial Japanese Army with the Nanking Massacre. Today, there is strong disagreement as to whether homosexuality and abortion are perfectly acceptable or evils. Therefore universalists consider evil independent of culture, and wholly related to acts or intents. Thus while the ideological leaders of Nazism accepted (and considered it good) to commit genocide, the universally evil act of genocide renders the entire ideology or culture evil.

Views on the nature of evil tend to fall into one of two opposed camps. One, moral absolutism, holds that good and evil are fixed concepts established by God, nature, morality, common sense, or some other source. The other, moral relativism, holds that standards of good and evil are only products of local culture, custom, or prejudice. Moral universalism is the attempt to find a compromise between the absolutist sense of morality, and the relativist view; universalism claims that morality is only flexible to a degree, and that what is truly good or evil can be determined by examining what is commonly considered to be evil amongst all humans.

A looser definition of evil describes it as death and suffering, whether it results from human or from other natural causes (e.g., earthquakes and famine). In other words, it is not merely the intention to do evil, but the end result, namely, harm to others, that is evil. This is sometimes referred to as "natural evil," and some philosophers hold the position that this is an inappropriate use of the word "evil," as it is without intent.

As Plato observed, there are relatively few ways to do good, but there are countless ways to do evil, which can therefore have a much greater impact on our lives, and the lives of other beings capable of suffering. For this reason, some philosophers (e.g. Bernard Gert) maintain that preventing evil is more important than promoting good in formulating moral rules and in conduct.

Some people define being evil as not only inflicting pain and suffering but also as performing an act for either solely selfish materialistic reasons (i.e. power or wealth) or because they are sadistic and derive pleasure from the act. Under this definition of evil, a person who commits morally wrong acts for sincerely benevolent reasons would not be evil, even if most people disagreed with the means thus justified. Disregarding whether the ends were to be considered morally wrong they would not be classified as evil, so long as they truly believed in the pursued higher goal. This does not mean the actions could not be viewed as morally wrong, just that there would not be an evil intent in them, as the intent of the actions is a key factor. Thus, for example, Osama bin Laden would not be evil as his motives are based on his (presumably sincere) belief that western civilization has become corrupt and evil. Absolute ignorance of the concept of morality would also render a person completely morally neutral.

Most cultures recognize many levels of immoral behaviour, from minor vices to major crimes. These beliefs are often encoded into the laws of a society, with methods of judgment and punishment for offenses.

Psychological approach to evil

There is a school of thought that holds that no person is evil, that only acts may be properly considered evil.

Psychologist and mediator Marshall Rosenberg claims that the root of violence is the very concept of "evil" or "badness." When we label someone as bad or evil, Rosenberg claims, it invokes the desire to punish or inflict pain. It also makes it easy for us to turn off our feelings towards the person we are harming. He cites the use of language in Nazi Germany as being a key to how the German people were able to do things to other human beings that they normally wouldn't do. He links the concept of evil to our judicial system, which seeks to create justice via punishment — "punitive justice" — punishing acts that are seen as bad or wrong. He contrasts this approach with what he found in cultures where the idea of evil was non-existent. In such cultures, when someone harms another person, they are believed to be out of harmony with themselves and their community, they are seen as sick or ill and measures are taken to restore them to a sense of harmonious relations with themselves and others, as opposed to punishing them.

Psychologist Albert Ellis makes a similar claim, in his school of psychology called Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy or REBT. He says the root of anger, and the desire to harm someone, is almost always one of these beliefs:

1. That they should/shouldn't have done certain things
2. That someone is awful/bad/horrible person for doing what they did
3. That they deserve to be punished for what they did

He claims that without one of the preceding thoughts, violence is next to impossible.

M. Scott Peck on the other hand, describes evil as "militant ignorance". In this it is close to the original Judeo-Christian concept of "sin" as a consistent process that leads to failure to reach one's true goals.

According to Scott Peck an evil person:

• Projects his or her evils and sins onto others and tries to remove them from others
• Maintains a high level of respectability and lies incessantly in order to do so
• Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency
• Is unable to think from other people's viewpoints.

He also considers certain institutions may be evil, as his discussion of the My Lai Massacre and its attempted coverup illustrate. By this definition, acts of criminal and state terrorism would also be considered evil.

Is evil good?

Anton LaVey, former head of the Church of Satan, asserts that evil is actually good (an often-used slogan is, "evil is live spelled backwards"). This belief is usually a reaction to religious definitions of evil, which some think oppose the natural pleasures of life or the natural instincts of men and women. In the more extreme cases, however, this belief can extend to the claim that hurting others is acceptable if you can get away with it.

In modern American slang, "bad" has become a synonym for "good", as in "Man, that's a bad/wicked piece of music." Bad has also been used for other positive slang, such as "badass".

In politics, the acceptance of evil is often called, "playing hardball," or, in the words of US Vice President Dick Cheney, making a reference to Star Wars in a speech given September 11, 2001, "we also have to work ... sort of the dark side ...".

It is not uncommon to find people in power who are indifferent to good or evil, taking actions based solely on practicality; this approach to politics was questioned by Niccolò Machiavelli, a sixteenth century Florentine writer and politician who declared in The Prince, "the ends justifies the means... The world consists mainly of vulgar people and the few who are honorable can safely be ignored when so many vulgar rally around the prince." The international relations theories of realism and neorealism, sometimes called realpolitik, about which Machiavelli wrote, explicitly disavow absolute moral and ethical considerations in international politics in favor of a focus on self-interest, political survival, and power politics, which they hold to be more accurate in explaining a world they view as explicitly amoral and dangerous. Political realists usually justify their perspectives by laying claim to a "higher moral duty" specific to political leaders, under which the greatest evil is seen to be the failure of the state to protect itself and its citizens. Machiavelli mocks : "[A prince] need not worry about incurring the disgrace of those vices without which it would be difficult for him to save the state, for if everything is carefully considered, it will be found that something which seems a virtue would, if practiced, become his ruin, and some other thing, which seems a vice, would, if practiced, result in his security and well-being."

When a person acts in such a way as to use others as means to achieve one's own personal ends or fails to consider the consequences of his or her acts upon the lives of others, this is considered to be psychopathic or sociopathic. If one accepts the Christian ethic that "by their deeds you shall know them", such approaches are Evil. This is also the view taken by Walter Wink, the Christian theologian of non-violence. Some authors, like the psychologist Benjamin B. Wolman, consider society as a whole to be moving towards a psychopathic mindset, but this stance has yet to gain wider acceptance.

Sociological views on evil

Some sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists have attempted to construct scientific explanations for the development of specific characteristics of an "antisocial" personality type, called the sociopath. The sociopath is typified by extreme self-serving behavior and a lack of conscience as well as an inability to empathize with others and to restrain him or herself from, or to feel remorse for, harm personally caused to others. However, a diagnosis of antisocial or sociopathic personality disorder (formerly called psychopathic mental disorder), is sometimes criticized as being, at the present time, no more scientific than calling a person "evil". There is much debate over this, however. Some, most prominently Robert D. Hare, author of Without Conscience, consider psychopathy to be a widespread disorder quite distinct from antisocial personality disorder.

What critics perceive to be a moral determination is disguised, they argue, with a scientific-sounding name but no complete description of a mechanism by which the abnormality can be identified. In other words, critics argue, "sociopaths" are called such because they are first thought to be "evil" - a determination which itself is not derived by a scientific method.

Research into sociopathology has also investigated biological, rather than moral, underpinnings of behaviors that societies reject as sociopathic. Most neurological research into sociopathology has focused on regions of the neocortex involved in impulse control. Some other research seems to indicate that sociopathy may at least partially be related to a lack of ability to realize the true consequences of one's actions.

Evil in business

In business, evil refers to unfair business practices. The most widely agreed on unfair practices are sweatshops and monopolies, but recently the term "evil" has been applied much more broadly, especially in the technology and intellectual property industries. One of the slogans of Google is "Don't Be Evil," in response to much-criticized technology companies such as Microsoft and AOL, and the tagline of independent music recording company Magnatune is "we are not evil," referring to the alleged evils of the RIAA. The economist David Korten has argued that industrial corporations, set up as fictive individuals by law, are required to work according only to the criteria of making profits for their shareholders, meaning they function as sociopathic organisations that inherently do evil in damaging the environment, denying labour justice and exploiting the powerless.

Hacker jargon

As used by computer hackers, the jargon term evil implies that some system, program, person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned to the point that the hacker(s) shouldn't worry about it. 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, and often acts as a synonym for the word difficult. 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," or "TECO is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're prone to typos." Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as /'i:::v¿l/. Compare to evil and rude. Evil, among hackers, is often used when describing any corporation or entity that espouses conformity, rather than community, especially in regards to computer software and information flow.

The usage of evil as a prefix for usernames or email addresses on the Internet can be traced back to "evilsteven", a founding member of the noend listservs in San Francisco and New York.

See also

• Bad
• Erich Heller (s.v. Negative transcendence)
• Glenn Danzig (A rock artist whose music delves deeply into the subject)
• Goodness and value theory
• Law
• Philosophy
• Religion
• Political usages of the term evil
• Problem of evil
• Scapegoat
• Shadow (psychology)
• Alignment (role-playing games)

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Shermer, M. (2004). The Science of Good & Evil. New York: Time Books. ISBN 0-8050-7520-8
• Wilson, William McF., and Julian N. Hartt. "Farrer's Theodicy." In David Hein and Edward Hugh Henderson (eds), Captured by the Crucified: The Practical Theology of Austin Farrer. New York and London: T & T Clark / Continuum, 2004. ISBN 0-567-02510-1
• Rosenberg, Marhsall B. (2003). Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Create Your Life, Your Relationships, and Your World in Harmony with Your Values. Puddledancer Press ISBN 1892005034

Further reading

• Oppenheimer, Paul (1996). Evil and the Demonic: A New Theory of Monstrous Behavior. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-6193-3. 

External links

• Good and Evil in (Ultra Orthodox) Judaism chabad.org

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