Is Evil Something You Are Or Is It Something you Do?

[Trevor McKormick]

I haven't decided what the answer to that question is yet, have you?

[Skotty]

Of course evil is something you get once you do it. So: Something you do.

If you don't do anything, how could you express your evilness?

Besides this, good or evil are subjective opinions. For Robotnik his actions are good, not evil.

[Neon Black]

We're defined by our actions, so if you do evil, you are evil -- if you do good, you are good.

[PorpoiseMuffins]

I'd say evil itself is a lazy word to use and to me, it's a descriptive word for an action, which answers your question but leaves out a lot of what I think of this question.

I hope I'm not going to stir up anything too controversial here, but take Hitler, for example. He did many things that we could call 'evil', but to point at him and say, 'he was evil' shirks the responsibility of finding out what went so badly wrong that a person like Hitler was ever produced in the first place. What on earth happened? The more we know of why he thought the way he did and made the decisions - and committed the actions - he did, the more we know of how to avoid it happening again.

Unfortunately I am currently not able to say I have researched this, so I don't mean the above to sound lectury.

[Trevor McKormick]

We're defined by our actions, so if you do evil, you are evil -- if you do good, you are good.

Why do otherwise good people do evil things then? And why do evil people do good things sometimes? My father used to beat me as a child, but he died when we were boating and another vessal came ramming into us and at the last possible second, father picked me up and tossed me out of the boat while the vessal rammed into him and killed him instantly. Is he a good man who did evil things when he beat me, or is he an evil man who just did a good thing then? And my brother is otherwise the nicest person I know, but a few years ago, he was caught trying to soliciate sex from a minor and arrested. Is he a good man who did one evil thing, or is he an evil man who just spend most of his life doing good when he volunteered at homeless shelters and such?

[Velvet D'Coolette]

Conceivably you are over-relying on labels like 'good' and 'evil'?

[Trevor McKormick]

Conceivably you are over-relying on labels like 'good' and 'evil'?

Conceivably, you are over-relying on labels like 'hungry' to describe the state of requiring sustenance or 'sick' to describe the state of being physically ill? ‘Labels,’ or rather language, is a way of simplifying our lives by being able to identify things to communicate with others. If you think what Hitler did isn't his fault and that he was an otherwise nice guy who just didn't get into art school, I still don't see the point of eliminating the word evil to describe his actions, why not use language to simplify our lives and make our point of view clear to others?

[Velvet D'Coolette]

Conceivably you are over-relying on labels like 'good' and 'evil'?

Conceivably, you are over-relying on labels like 'hungry' to describe the state of requiring sustenance or 'sick' to describe the state of being physically ill?

But I do not use the word hungry to define my identity. It is a state that only applies for the time that I am requiring sustenance, and goes away as soon as I have eaten. My hungriness is not part of my identity, it is a word I use to specify a particular need that I temporarily have.

‘Labels,’ or rather language, is a way of simplifying our lives by being able to identify things to communicate with others. If you think what Hitler did isn't his fault and that he was an otherwise nice guy who just didn't get into art school, I still don't see the point of eliminating the word evil to describe his actions, why not use language to simplify our lives and make our point of view clear to others?

Your initial question was whether evil is something we are or something we do. While evil is a useful word for the actions for which Hitler is famous, I was introducing the idea that evil is too much a surface judgement. As Skotty suggested, to us, Robotnik's (or Hitler's) actions were evil; to them, their actions were not. However, if I am hungry then it is not debateable whether I am hungry or not.

As for Hitler being 'an otherwise nice guy', I wouldn't want to assign him the descriptor 'nice' either. Why bother? Perhaps, putting his evil actions to one side for a moment, he was also generally a bit of a git, or something. My point remains that if someone is doing something you feel tempted to call 'evil' then isn't it best to understand what was behind the evilness rather than slapping the label on it and going about your merry way, blithely happy that you managed to define something as 'evil' and that you're not like it yourself? Understanding, surely, is better than condemning.

[Lynchenberg]

People just need hugs, then they won't feel evil no more.

[Lynchenberg]

I love you Trevor! Don't feel bad no more.

[Trevor McKormick]

Conceivably you are over-relying on labels like 'good' and 'evil'?

Conceivably, you are over-relying on labels like 'hungry' to describe the state of requiring sustenance or 'sick' to describe the state of being physically ill?

But I do not use the word hungry to define my identity. It is a state that only applies for the time that I am requiring sustenance, and goes away as soon as I have eaten. My hungriness is not part of my identity, it is a word I use to specify a particular need that I temporarily have.

‘Labels,’ or rather language, is a way of simplifying our lives by being able to identify things to communicate with others. If you think what Hitler did isn't his fault and that he was an otherwise nice guy who just didn't get into art school, I still don't see the point of eliminating the word evil to describe his actions, why not use language to simplify our lives and make our point of view clear to others?

Your initial question was whether evil is something we are or something we do. While evil is a useful word for the actions for which Hitler is famous, I was introducing the idea that evil is too much a surface judgement. As Skotty suggested, to us, Robotnik's (or Hitler's) actions were evil; to them, their actions were not. However, if I am hungry then it is not debateable whether I am hungry or not.

As for Hitler being 'an otherwise nice guy', I wouldn't want to assign him the descriptor 'nice' either. Why bother? Perhaps, putting his evil actions to one side for a moment, he was also generally a bit of a git, or something. My point remains that if someone is doing something you feel tempted to call 'evil' then isn't it best to understand what was behind the evilness rather than slapping the label on it and going about your merry way, blithely happy that you managed to define something as 'evil' and that you're not like it yourself? Understanding, surely, is better than condemning.

Mm, I love a woman whose smarter than me. You've got balls babe.

[Lynchenberg]

We're defined by our actions, so if you do evil, you are evil -- if you do good, you are good.

Do you suppose people can change?

[Neon Black]

I like to think so, otherwise what would be the point of rehabilitation programs. I'm hardly informed on this kind of thing, but generally my impression is that our personalities and tendencies are at their most malleable when we're young.

A bad upbringing can really lead to problems in one's life and as we become older, we become more set in our ways - some more than others, too, but it's never really impossible to change. The biggest obstacle to bringing about usually comes from the person themselves, who shoot themselves in the foot by thinking either that they can't change or that they shouldn't have to.

And indeed it can be really hard to let go of deeply set issues and emotional reactions to things, but I think with the right amount of determination and also a fair bit of help from others, it can certainly be done.

[Hyram the Hedgehog]

"Evil" lands on my ear as a Religious/Patriotic concept.

On real world, even depends how exactly you do a thing, I mean, if you shot down airliners with a howitzer, you're evil, but if shot down the 9/11 planes before hitting the WTC, you had saved scores of lives, you, the same one shoting down Jumbos for LoLs...

But it's handy if the church in your country labels your countrie's foes as "Evil" with logic phallacy of labelling the own country as "good" and justifying per omission any harm done to the "Evil" as not evil, bud good.