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Re: Kim,
This is exactly the problem with defining 'evil' which is something, in my view, quite different from 'bad' which is the stuff we simply don't like. It is more absolute, more universal. And it is also sometimes mistaken for 'good.'
posted by
Ciel
on November 20, 2012 at 8:00 AM
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Balance
This is a fascinating subject that I have struggled a lot with. My current understanding is that the problem lies in our definitions of "good" and "bad" (or "evil") and our expectation that "bad" things should not happen. Painful and uncomfortable situations (which we deem "bad") are an inevitable part of life. They are part of a balance. We take those experiences and conceptualize them into "evil forces", but if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture of life and death, we see that one cannot exist without the other. They are two sides of the same coin, and maybe our suffering comes from our resistance to those "bad" and uncomfortable things in life. Our inability to hold both "good" and "bad" as sacred. This is a big topic. Thanks for addressing it =) -Kim
posted by
steveNkim
on November 20, 2012 at 7:18 AM
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Very interesting read. Would like to read more about it....
posted by
adnohr
on March 28, 2012 at 4:31 AM
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Xeno, the problem with the 'do no harm' directive
is in defining 'harm' which varies widely from one point of view to another. There is really only degree of harm in any change, which has to be balanced with degree of benefit.
posted by
Ciel
on March 18, 2012 at 10:32 AM
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Re: we have a choice
well said...
posted by
WednesdayAddams
on March 17, 2012 at 1:25 PM
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we have a choice
evil can be what some hierarchical organization defines as evil
so we come up with several "evils"
or
we can work with the concept of evil being harm
thus we can follow the directive of physicians
"Do no harm."
which I think is the best choice.
posted by
Xeno-x
on March 13, 2012 at 4:05 PM
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good questions
and there would not much resolution in the usual good/evil, god/satan scenario where an ultimate good source of all somehow has evil coexisting and people suffering as a result
posted by
Xeno-x
on March 12, 2012 at 7:38 PM
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Ciel
Very interesting, and worthy of a more detailed response. Let me just say that, while recognizing 'good' and 'evil', I have a difficult time reconciling a 'concretization' of these concepts with my conviction that the Universe is fundamentally indifferent to them...
posted by
Nautikos
on March 9, 2012 at 6:25 PM
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At times I've thought that God is in all of us
and so is the evil impulse.
Mama's verse: there's so much good in the worst of us / and so much bad in the best of us / that it ill behooves any of us / to talk about the rest of us.
posted by
Pat_B
on March 9, 2012 at 10:32 AM
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