Is Anything Evil? Does Evil Exist?

Not necessarily. I've been trying for years now to find a common definition of evil that we could all agree on. It's probably a futile attempt, but nonetheless I think I've come close to it. And note, I did not come up with this on my own. Someone in my distant past suggested it to me.Can we agree that evil is simply the lack of empathy?

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Disclaimer:

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Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

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He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

Hm... I see what you mean, but I still kinda want to see if there's any way evil can be defined in such a way that we all can agree on. Ok, so we Americans view 911 as reflecting a lack of empathy in the Islamic world... but more precisely just a lack of empathy in a few individuals who came from the Islamic world. You kinda lost me on the second part of your sentence there. Perhaps you meant that how we treat the Islamic world can be described as having a lack of empathy for them, which I completely agree.Maybe I'm just a moron, I just don't see how 911 can be a relative thing. I don't think those in the Islamic world who thought 911 was just retribution for all the bad things we've done would disagree with me when I say flying a plane into a building to kill thousands is evil. Unless you are a sociopath (and I don't mean this as a put down) such an act, regardless of the cause or purpose, is evil. Now, whether it is a just retribution or not is another matter.

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Disclaimer:

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Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

​

He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

Ah, but then did he really empathize with his victims?

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Disclaimer:

​

Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

​

He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

In other words, you believe that what constitutes as evil to you might be good to another?Permit me to give an extreme example. The nazi soldiers who performed the horrific acts during the holocaust were having a blast doing them because they believed that they were doing good by ridding the world of the undesirables. In other words, the undesirables were threatening the nazi doctrine of the superiority of the aryan race.Evil is that which threatens what I cherish. I cherish blond hair, blue eyes, and the purity of the aryan race. By some bastardize reason, Jews, Gypsies, Slaviks, Homosexuals, etc. are threatening what I cherish. Therefore, it is good to get rid of them.On the other hand, if I am a Jew, what I cherish is my culture and family. Therefore, the acts of the nazis to me are evil.In other words, the term evil, in this case, is completely subjective. Isn't it sort of pointless, then, to impose one's view of evil over another?

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Disclaimer:

​

Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

​

He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

Perhaps... but then again true empathy is one of those things where I'd have to say that I know it when I see it kinda thing.

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Disclaimer:

​

Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

​

He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

This is a general reply to everyone who have replied to my definition of evil. Have you considered that the lack of empathy could also mean the lack of demonstrating empathy? I wasn't speaking strictly of one's emotional/mental state during the action in question. Perhaps evil is the lack of either empathy or demonstrating empathy?

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Disclaimer:

​

Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

​

He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!