Evil

From Srafopedia

Evil is a broad term used to indicate a negative moral or ethical judgment, often used to describe intentional acts that are cruel, unjust, or selfish. Evil is usually contrasted with good, which describes intentional acts that are kind, just, or unselfish. In many cultures, evil is used to describe acts or thoughts which are contrary to some particular religion.

In Western philosophy, evil is usually limited to the idea of doing harm or damage to an object or creature. Plato argued that that which we call evil is merely ignorance and that good is that which everyone desires.

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.

In the philosophical concept of evil, the intent to cause harm is crucial, so that acts that would otherwise be considered evil are not called evil when performed by very young children, by animals, or by the insane. There is also a class of deliberate acts, known to be harmful to another, which are not considered evil because: they are acts of self-defence or defence of another; or they are 'acts of war'.

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 Greek epics, Odyssey and Iliad, 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. The gods do as they please, reward humans they like, and punish humans they dislike, for reasons unrelated to good and evil.

In a number of religious traditions, human beings are considered to be "governed" by an innate bent 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 or Ahriman. Polytheistic pantheons often have trickster gods, such as Loki, but these gods are viewed not as evil, but as chaotic. In ancient religions the duality of good and evil does not exist, and in its place we often find the duality of order and chaos.

(Source: Wikipedia)