Historically people from various societies and cultures have struggled to define, characterize, and set the parameters of good and evil. Albert Einstein said, “God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God.” (Goodreads.com) A lot of people believe that evil is not inherent; it is nurtured. What if we are all really born evil and we have to be taught to be good? From early childhood, people are taught to adhere to guidelines that identify good or bad behavior. Unfortunately, no amount of guidance and moral teaching can prevent people from abusing power and proliferating evil deeds in a community. Good judgment can easily become overcome by temptation. The lack of empathy also allows people to do despicable things to others. Nonetheless, the definition of evil is dependent on what a community perceives is good. The topic of good versus evil has been examined extensively in history books, literature and world religions. The fascination of how “evil” can dehumanize, harm and destroy innocent people is one that is explored throughout written history. A clear example of evil documented in history is Madame Delphiene LaLaurie; her notoriety comes from the fact she mutilated Shaune 2 and tortured her slaves to death in the mid 1800’s in New Orleans. In the 19th century, the mistreatment of slaves was considered illegal and highly frowned upon. The Madame’s hometown began to turn against her when her neighbor witnessed her chasing a slave girl with a leather whip; the girl jumped to her death to avoid more torture. Madame LaLaurie was arrested and her slaves were removed from her. What the townspeople did not know was the slaves were in turn sold to her family members; she purchased them ... ... middle of paper ... ...ple are generally not born evil, but evil festers from situations and emotional upbringing they endure. The view of evil in the world has become warped because of the way society perceives it. Some see things as evil from lack of understanding; thus they condemn and fear things they don’t comprehend. The notion of good and evil is not always black and white; we constantly cross these lines set in place by cultures, religions, and communities. The definition of good and evil is based on perceptions that may be as skewed and biased as those who define them. Regardless of their origins, the numerous definitions of good require the notion of evil. The way society perceives good and evil continues to evolve because old biases and fears are challenged. Nonetheless, persons and communities need the concept of good and evil in order to create laws and social guidelines.
“Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other” (Eric Burdon). People do not think they are doing good or evil, they just think that they are doing the right thing. Evil comes from within each one of us. You just need to something to bring it out.
It is the contention of this paper that humans are born neutral, and if we are raised to be good, we will mature into good human beings. Once the element of evil is introduced into our minds, through socialization and the media, we then have the potential to do bad things. As a person grows up, they are ideally taught to be good and to do good things, but it is possible that the concept of evil can be presented to us. When this happens, we subconsciously choose whether or not to accept this evil. This is where the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke become interesting as both men differed in the way they believed human nature to be.
What is good and evil and where did it come from? Everything in the world was created from the one God. The God theory infused all things in the world and that live beyond it. From this viewpoint good and evil both derived from the God law. They have both lived since the construction of the world. Yet, evil was in a dormant form at that juncture. Evil is in our mind, not inside our aspiring heart (http://www.srichinmoy.org/spirituality/spirituality/good_and_evil).
"Evil". When most of us hear this word, we think of negatively influencing people such as Adolf Hitler and Osama Bin Laden. Without a doubt, these people are evil, although, it is a bit extreme to the way I’m here to portray it. Evil is a powerful force that can result in many destructive consequences within societies and around the world. Some people have the ability to perform such cruel and unacceptable things without experiencing a slight feeling of shame and compassion, yet, the majority of people continue to say, “All people are inherently good”. Sure, in our eyes, most people physically behave well and are generally good hearted, but we have all started with an evil state of mind. It is the morals and laws cultured into society that restrict us from doing evil, and lead us into doing good. Although we have many reputable people that have made a positive impact in our world, there is undeniable evidence that humans are naturally evil beings .
Everyone has personal opinions on the definition of evil, but what is the true definition? Some argue that God can only judge if an act is evil, while some say only certain things are evil. Many philosophers and authors argue over what the most accurate definition is. One psychiatrist, Dr. M. Scott Peck, suspects that Satan lives within people as a lazy and less-disciplined figure, which induces mental illness and criminal activity (Lawhon 1). Author Michael Stone defines evil as specific deeds designed to torture or murder another individual, but “the perpetrator be aware that the victim would suffer intensely, experience agony”. Who do we have to blame for these unthinkable acts of hatred? The only ones capable of them: humans. Humans are the only creatures that can feel emotions, such as shame, and have complex, rational thought (Stone 19). It is hard to tell when bad actions blur into evil acts. True evil is when that person knows what they are doing is wrong, but continue to do so because it gives them pleasure.
Phillip Pullman, a British author, once wrote, “I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are”(goodreads.com). Pullman’s quotation on the actions of man being the source of good and evil closely relate to morality, principles regarding the distinction of right and wrong or a person’s values. The question of what human morality truly is has been pondered by philosophers, common folk, and writers for thousands of years. However, sometimes a person’s ethics are unclear; he or she are not wholly good or bad but, rather, morally ambiguous.
The question of evil is a common topic among non-believers. Evil has existed since the beginning of time. In today’s society people have become so desensitized to evil, the true origins become hard to understand. God gave us each the free will and ability to choose right from wrong, although many of God’s creation continue to choose sin. The Holy Bible explains to us the nature and root of sin. This explanation helps us understand why bad things happen and how it might affect our relationships with the Most High.
Evil exists in all human beings, even children. This is proven in William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies in which a group of youthful, inncocent boys are stranded without any contact with the outside world. The boys are not in the civil surrondings that they are used to, but their instincts kick in and their ultimate goal is to survive, together. The first sense of security is when all of the boys find eachother. They are given hope. Hope that is immediately lost when the division between the two born leaders, Jack and Ralph, begins. Their innocence is lost due to the lack of proper authority and consequence. They are no longer just juvenile boys under someone else's care, but survivors fighting to stay alive.
One’s morals set in place the actions they see as proper and improper in their current society. Individuals in the same socioeconomic settings tend to overlap and correspond to each other. Other times morals are nonexistent or different due to one’s upbringing and culture, this means that ‘appropriate’ decisions as seen by some people may be seen as ‘inappropriate’ to others. Evil in terms of morals can be defined as someone 's morals being so extreme or nonexistent when compared to those of modern society 's views that they can not be logically comprehended.
Every human is born with the potential to be inherently evil. Whether they choose this path or not depends on the influences of the outside world. We can see an example of how this is true from the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Although all of the boys in the novel start out as innocent choirboys, they show their true form of evil when they are put in a dire situation. The boys no longer become friends to one another, instead they try to kill animals and even each other for the pure enjoyment of it. Humans are born evil and have the intent of doing violent and harmful things as evident by; the world’s history, violence as a source of entertainment, constant wars, and bullies, both cyber and physical.
What draws the line between good and evil? Individuals have the power to choose either one in their actions. Do factors such as a situation, the environment, or a learned behavior have an influence on human behavior? Individuals are influenced by situations which make them behave differently than normal. Individuals have the need to be accepted in society. What causes individuals to have the feeling of being accepted in society in order to fit in? The hypothesis suggests everyone is influenced by their environment and by certain situations. Society has painted the image that individuals need to be accepted by others and are willing to forget themselves in order to get accepted.
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur into many shades of grey allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being. Man is not inherently good or evil but they are born innocent without any values or sense of morality until people impart their philosophies of life to them. In the words of John Locke:
Since the dawn of modern civilization the terms good and evil have been used to describe the world and the various things within it. Things ranging from the concepts of the Devil, to the kid the cut in front you in the lunch line in the third grade, evil can be defined in many ways, however, evil is generally defined as something that goes against a single set of moral principles that society has defined. This is not true because evil is something that an individual perceives that they believe will cause them harm and goes against their individual moral beliefs, not some universal concept accepted by everyone.
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” (Eleanor Roosevelt). This is just one of the infinite examples of how human nature has been explored by so many different people. Each and every human is born with the capability of making their own choices. The decisions that they will make in the future will determine how evil they are viewed by others. Although one’s nature and nurture do affect their life, it is their own free will that determines whether or not they are evil.
When a person finds joy in something, they call it good. On the other hand, if it brings them agony, they call it evil. Good and evil can mean whatever people want you to think they mean. What is good to one person can be evil to another person. For instance, a soldier that goes to war for his country will be viewed as a hero. But the wives and children of the men that the soldier killed will view him as an evil person. No one really knows the true meaning of good and evil. All everyone really knows are just the world’s opinion on what good and evil really are.