Evil
Evil is profound immorality, often opposed to good.
Evil is a concept defined as profound immorality, often associated with acts causing pain and suffering. It is commonly seen as the opposite or absence of good, and can take forms such as personal moral evil, impersonal natural evil, or the demonic in religious thought. Definitions vary across cultures and philosophies, with some denying its existence.
- field
- Philosophy, Ethics, Religion
- known_for
- Concept of profound immorality and its dualistic opposition to good
- related_philosophers
- Baruch Spinoza, Hannah Arendt, Carl Jung, Philip Zimbardo, Stanley Milgram
- related_religions
- Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Baháʼí Faith, Chinese folk religion
Lore & Background
The modern English word 'evil' derives from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, with cognates in German and Dutch. In Chinese moral philosophy, evil is translated as 惡, and the emperor and officials are tasked with restraining it to preserve cosmic order. Offenses against the Three Bonds and the Five Constants are considered particularly heinous, and the Ming Legal Code identified Ten Abominations—such as rebellion, parricide, and incest—that were so abhorrent that pardon was not applied.
Reader's Guide
Evil has been a central concern in European philosophy, with Hannah Arendt concluding after Nazi Germany that it would be the fundamental problem of postwar intellectual life. Baruch Spinoza argued that knowledge of good or evil is merely consciousness of joy or sorrow, and that if the human mind had only adequate ideas, it would form no notion of evil. In psychology, Carl Jung depicted evil as the dark side of God, while Philip Zimbardo suggested that collective identity can lead people to act evilly, as in the Stanford prison experiment. In the Baháʼí Faith, evil is considered non-existent, a mere lack of good, like cold is lack of heat.
Did You Know?
- The modern English word 'evil' comes from Proto-Germanic *ubilaz, related to Hittite huwapp-.
- The Ming Legal Code identified Ten Abominations, including plotting rebellion and incest, for which pardon did not apply.
- The Baháʼí Faith asserts that evil is non-existent, reflecting a lack of good.
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