Define "Evil."
 

How do we define the term? It's important.

I'm sick of the extreme relativism which says that there is no such thing as good or evil, but I'm also sick of extreme absolutism which says that evil is evil is evil and there are no degrees for anything. I'm looking for something in between. Unfortunately, there's no way to remove all relativism from the equation - but you can keep it manageable.

I've got a proposal of my own. It's got two parts.

1. "Evil" and "Good" are two directions on a scale. Consider a conscience to be a thermometer - evil is cold, and good is heat. There is no theoretical limit for good because you can always do more, and there is no way to attain the theoretical limit for evil because that last little bit of evil just can't be done.

2. A deed is "evil" in proportion to the extent to which it deprives an entity (proportional to the value of that entity - human, animal, society, whatever) of something (proportional to the value of the thing - life, liberty, property, whatever) to which the entity is entitled (proportional to the degree of the entitlement - ownership, potential, just feels like they've earned it, whatever) and wishes to have or retain (proportional to the degree of the want - I like it, yeah it's pretty nice, it's my precious, whatever).

Without the parentheses, that's: "A deed is 'evil' in proportion to the extend to which it deprives an entity of something to which the entity is entitled and wishes to have or retain."

Any ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions? Complaints? Conspiracy theories? Muffins? Debris?

Hrem, you can't really define evil as much as you can't really define what is good. If you ask one person what they think is evil, another may think otherwise - which means, you can't really define what it means. Maybe? I don't know...

I suppose the closest you could do is ask everyone in the world what they think evil is and see what the average is.

i don't beleave there is a thing like good or evil i just think of it as words that make no since

Something which is "evil" is deemed "evil" because it's not good - or rather it works against the good. What is good is deemed by society, hence society also chooses what is evil.

If candycanes were consitered evil, and I were to promote candycanes I would be evil for promoting such a vile product. If I were to eat candycanes I would be evil because I would be breaking the uniformity of society's definition of good and evil (the agreement of society's evils would be consitered "good").

I think the best idea is this from south park:

Without evil there can be no good, so it must be good to be evil sometimes.

read this and replace "order" with "good" and "chaos" with "evil" and you will get my exact opinion

http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=010730

i personally believe in a definite 'good' and 'evil' as far as religion goes. murder, for example, is evil because the bible says so. having said that, i think evil is used sometimes far too freely, which makes it almost meaningless because its so overused. i would not for example call lying evil, even though it is against the bible. i WOULD call hitler evil. i suppose i would call evil something that is both wrong and deprives others of doing whats right.

having said that, i know that people in general wont really take religion as a valid argument, because there are so many of them out there. so instead, in the sociological sense, i would call evil that which infringes upon others' rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and all rights guaranteed by the constitution. this would include torture, genocide, homocide (anything that ends with cide short of pesticide), and so forth.

Sorry Bill, I know you don't want to hear it, but I had to post it :

Evil, Good, doesn't matter, its a matter of perspective... What we see as 'evil' may seem 'good' to someone else. I mean, there is no universal way to define 'evil' and 'good' . There are religious and societal ways to define it, but thats about as far as it goes. And those are still based on the point of view.

That's what I basically said - does that make me a smart person??

hrem... maybe a little ego-bumped, but not smart... erm... I'll stop talking to myself now.

"Evil" is defined as "Black Mage".
no but seriously...
I believe evil is mostly based on the person...if you do something that you know is wrong, then it's evil. If you're doing something that you don't think is bad but others think it is, it's not evil, it's just misunderstood. There are exceptions to this, however, such as muslim suicide bombers killing themselves and others because they believe it's the right thing. I think that's evil, and retarded for that matter...so..maybe evil is based on your opinions which are influenced by the society you live in? /shrugs