so i was just thinking..it's kind of hard to define "evil"...what distinguishes pure evil from say shades of grey...what is yur definition of evil? or is there no one concept of evil and is it all relative?

what do you think?

To me all is relative and even the evilest of deeds can sometimes result in something good. Just like the best intentions don't always come across. That's why I personally judge evil or good based on the reasoning, not always the result.

To me it matters why someone does something and if they do something which they clearly know is bad for others for selfish reasons, that's nearing pure evil. Still everything is greyed out by circumstances, frequency of the occurence and the level of impact.

Then there's also insanity in various forms and claims, from "the voices told me" to "muwhahahahahaha" which can often bring forth the evilest acts. I believe that regardless of how insane one is, one should still be held responcible for their actions.

The evilest deed I can recall recently is this belgian teenager who went into a daycare center and stabbed 15 babies and a caretaker with a knife. Obviously there's a whole debate going on that the guy was insane and maybe not responcible for his actions.

That he was insane, I can see because no sane person could do such a thing but that he's not responcible for his actions is complete nonsense in my eyes. Someone who can plan and execute something so well without breaking down even afterwards in jail is perfectly aware of his actions and completely responcible for them with me.

I think evil is subjective, depending on the person. What I see as evil another person may see as good. I try to be very careful when labeling something evil because I don't know the motives behind it or why it was done.

regarding the creche killing, i would tend to agree more with zan...i find that kind of thing really dispicable...on the other hand who knows, that guy (Kim de Gelder right?) might have been hallucinating..but i dont think it makes the act itself less horrible though

as for the rest well for the most part i think that just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is evil really....it all depends on how you view the world and your values and beliefs...but i believe that despite that some things, such as the toddlers being murdered...most people would find horrible

whether it is 'evil' is where it gets kind of muddy because i think what makes something horrible and evil is the intent and level of hate and malice behind the act..ofcourse you can't really tell something like that because it's all in someone else's head

Not sure if i have a definition of evil since i think most things are debatable' but to me evil is when you hurt some one so deeply like a child' that to me is evil,.

I agree vampcat hurting a child is definitly evil.

I think "evil" is an entirely human concept...perhaps a concept that physical beings all share. As a celestial, I only really remember being concerned with "my purpose". If you ask me, angels and other "created" beings can either do what they're programmed for/told/etc. or rebel. So they wouldn't necessarily think of evil at all.

Some things humans do are disgusting, morally repulsive, etc. but "evil" is just an odd concept that really has its roots in Judeo-Christian mythos and is nothing but a word to me really.

Disgust and morally repulsive aren't just human concepts then?

It might very well be, but most if not all beings probably function by some kind of guidelines (save those that are programmed to do whatever and thus don't function by guidelines of their own) that humans would refer to as a moral code, so something that "offends" those guidelines could be likened to being "morally repulsive" and things that are morally repulsive are often disgusting, so I don't think they're just human concepts.

I agree with you, I don't think they're human concepts either .. more like sentient concepts. However I don't see the difference between those concepts and the concept of evil. They're all subjected to individual definitions but claiming that evil is purely human doesn't fly with me. I've seen too many otherkin commit evil acts .. heck I've even seen documentaries where animals display purely evil, twisted behaviour.

Yeah, but you're human calling them evil, see? This is one of those debate topics where I basically say "when we all die we need to meet up and see if we were right!"

Of course, if you use that argument every single word or concept everyone here can think of is purely human because they're all thought up by human minds.

I think the point we're both trying to make and that practically every member here agrees on is that evil, just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's subjective and debatable .. which can raise the question if the word itself is really worth using.

Personally, I think it is .. because no matter how long we can all argue about it's true meaning .. that one word "evil" still carries a very inherent, empathical meaning.

I agree Zan

I agree too about the inherent emphathetical meaning of the word evil. I also think that evil isn't just human. Almost everything has a capacity for evil, or what is perceived as evil by others. Good, evil, whatever those concepts are are both part of the universe I think. You can't have anything entirely good or entirely evil...but I ramble