What is evil?

1. What is evil? and how easy is it to distinguish between Good and Evil? The key points raised in this presentation can be found in “The Thinker’s Guide to Evil” by Peter Vardy

2. Key definitions: • Natural Evil: any event perceived to have a negative impact on humanity that is not caused by people. • Moral Evil: events or actions that are intentionally caused by people that have a negative impact on others.

3. Modern film & literature is often based around the struggle between good & evil – the enemy is usually easy to identify

4. Is it always that clear though? – what’s so evil about this lot?

5. Evil? • Were people like Josef Fritzl & Myra Hindley mad rather than bad? • Volcanos are an essential and effective means of replenishing nutrients into the earth & releasing pressure • Hitler was generous & loyal with a fierce intolerance of communism. He successfully restored the German economy after WW1 & the Treaty of Versailles • Osama bin Laden was a symbol of Muslim nations standing up to the West • Is war evil when its aim is to overthrow tyrranical rulers and protect innocent civilians?

6. Does Evil exist? • Some claim that evil is an illusion – created by our minds. We experience evil through suffering only because we cannot see the whole picture. (Leibniz) • Is evil just an absence of Good? Aquinas believed that a good God could not create something evil – therefore evil is an absence of good, in the same way that dark is an absence of light. • Evil & Suffering are down to individual’s karma – in Hindu & Buddhist thought evil is an illusion brought on by greed & selfishness. • Of course, if there is no God, there is no problem. (Atheist view)

7. Is evil relative? • Does the nature of an action / event / person come down to your opinion? • Is there such a thing as an intrinsically evil action? Heroes? Terrorists?

8. Why does this matter? • Over the next few lessons, you are going to be studying the philosophical difficulties “evil” raises for theists. • If evil is relative, then there is no such thing as evil for the theist to defend their faith against, and the problem of evil disappears. • Nonetheless, it is important to recognise that suffering certainly is real – for many people, the problem of suffering is just as serious a threat to the God of Classical Theism.

9. Definitions: • Evil: something that is considered to be morally wrong, contrary to the will of God – either natural or moral • Suffering: the pain and anguish brought about by evil