Can anyone out there give me a good defenition of 'Evil' (or 'Good' if you prefer)

I've thought about this quite a bit and it's a hard term to define w/o relying on such things as the 10 commendments...

Also consider this...
Does Good or Evil apply if you have no one to be good or evil towards?...
If you were the only living thing in existance would your actions still carry the label of good or evil?

oprah is the definition of evil.

ten commendments.....aren't commendments good things? like "i was commended for my work with the comunity base kids"

but anywho
good: thinking of the concequences of your actions and how they effect others

evil: thinking about yourself and only yourself, not caring who's head you step on to get where you need to go (see also pop stars)

if you were the only living thing in existance then you wouldn't be alive for very long....(no food, no oxygen..)

FutonBunny ::::::::::
Well it's a hypothetical setting where you have all the freakin resources your grabby selfishness needs to survive....

As for your defenition of good...
I'm sure Hitler for instance thought the consequences through long and hard... yet he still remained focused on his goal.... Most people would hardly consider Hitlers actions 'good'....

It seems your defenition is more fitting for the word 'Cautious' or 'smart'...

no, i wouldn't think of them that way, hitler was evil because though he may have thought of others he still acted with out considderation for them

the ultimate good would be putting others needs before yours as not to hurt them.

ultimate good is impossible to live and be happy with

Still... for there to be evil in the world, you'd have to have others to be evil to.....
Or to be considerate or inconsiderate towards others... still requires the 'others' to be there...

On your own, you can neither be good nor evil....
Broken down to this what do these concepts really hold true?...

Arsnik:::::::: Oprah doesnt even know what evil is.... but she tries..... so hard.....

well i guess with my definition it is impossible to be evil on your own, and in all reality i think that is the case. if it's not hurting anyone why would it be evil?

that's why i don't understand some of the catholic church's views, who gets hurt if you chronically masturbate?
why is that a hell worthy sin? or eating meat on fridays during lent?

FUtonBunny:::::::::::::
I agree that the catholic church (among others) carry many traditions that completely lack sense.... though it may just seem this way due to my own shortcommings, I strongly believe that religeon has taken a serious swan dive unto the pavement since it's origins....

Back to the point....

On your own no evil may encur.... so what does this mean in the real world where 'others' are abundant and just waiting to recieve some evil from you???.... well....

Consider the fact that you can no more prove my existance then I can prove yours.... all that you see and hear is just incoming data... information that is translated by your brain in a unuiqe way... The only real evidence you have of others existing is that they in fact look, sound and seem alot like you... but this could all well be a lie...

in my opinion evil is judge by the society that it resides in...for example...thousands of years ago sacrafice was acceptable...now a days it's evil...

Maxx honey i think you've been watching too many sci-fi movies...

i gotta go, school's ending

i have email if you so feel the need to keep bantering and such (i don't get on here at home, long story)

Jordyn:::::::::::

good point......
I suppose it does all depend on whos judging...

But who is any one person to judge what anyone else does?

I suppose thus is the need for God...

"Evil-- A negative judgment passed on as a consequence of an act...."

I'd like to hear some more percise and technical defenitions of Good and Evil....

Evil is a point of view.

Good and evil are merely perceptions... Milton's Satan was once heard speaking "Evil, be thou my good."

I think any person's "good" is merely what he believes is the best action to make... does that mean it is the correct action?... I won't judge.

One by nature performs the action one agrees with most... even if coerced to do something you disagree with, you agree with it at the one instant you do it. This action for that instant is "good."

Is there a universal good, or evil? I doubt it; however I tend to think of my view of good to deal with what aids others, and actually makes them happier. If I help someone out and it doesn't improve their psyche, I feel a failure. If I do in fact succeed in brightening someone's day due to something as miniscule as a kind word or a smile, I feel an utter success.
A bit dependent, certainly. It works when I'm in my current good mood .

synonymous with capitalism.

indeed...

It sure seems to be this way... so how can anyone be judged for anything they do?
Why is there such a heiarchy of Good vs. Evil?
Why should I go to hell for eternity for someones opinion of my deeds?

And what about good intentions?
Some of the most 'Evil' things in history were caused by them...

So is it your intent?
You action?
or the end result?

Which of these makes one goog or evil.... or is it all just a matter of looking at it in a different light?

Evil, ev (i)l. adj. Wicked: bad: mischievous: disagreeable: Unfortunate. - adv In an evil manner: badly - n. That which produces unhappiness or calamity: harm: Wickedness: Depravity: Sin - Adv.


"It is only necessary for good men to stand by and do nothing for evil to be done" Anon.

As for can you be evil if you are the only living thing (I get the concept). It is like the age old question of if a tree falls in the woods and there is no one and nothing around to hear it...does it make a sound?
I have believe that the tree makes a sound but I doubt you can be evil unless you have something/someone to be evil towards, otherwise there would be nothing to say you are evil and to label you as thus.
We are taught that a tree falling makes sound in the same way we are all taught the difference between good and evil, everyone's concept of evil will be different. Jack the ripper killed prostitues because he beileved he was doing the world a favour by ridding it of ungodly disease spreading whores...now you or I may not agree with him...but in his eyes he wasn't evil, so is he evil? So to reiterate what I have said, you need someone to label you evil for it to be evil and even when they do label you evil...how can you be sure they are right.
But the tree still makes a sound

Dunno if that makes sense but I know what I was trying to say

Love SilverNymph XXxx

I am pretty sure that Plato said something along these lines, the movie hollowman was based on it.

Evil is just a perception of our morality

Our morality is defined by how people see us

Therefore if we were to be invisible no-one could see us and we would have no morality, we could not get blamed for our actions.

Destruction without creation, without definition, without purpose.


Good would be nothing more than a lack of evil, so that if evil did not exist, neither would good, but we would be the better off for it.