Evil From Morals

Title	Evil From Morals
# of Words	1175
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.7

Evil From Morals

Evil From Morals

     By textbook definition, evil is "What is morally wrong, what hinders the
realization of good" (Webster).  If that is evil, then what is good? It's "what
is morally excellent, virtuous, well behaved, dutiful." (Webster) Philosophers
have argued over what evil is and why it exists for thousands of years. They
have raised questions like ‘How can there be a God if there is evil?' These
questions were raised due to God's nature: he is said to be all-powerful, all-
knowing and all-good. If this is the case, why doesn't he stop evil? And, since
people are supposed to be created in God's image, why are they capable of moral
evil? If one believes that God exists, there can only be one answer: evil exists
because God allows it, and moral evil exists because God has given us freedom of
choice.

     Evil has been looked at in many different ways throughout the years.
Philosophers like Socrates and Plato believed evil was a matter of ignorance.
Ancient Persians saw good and evil as two principles, "engaged in a perpetual
struggle."(Collier) In reality, evil is merely the absence of good. "The essence
of all reality is good, evil is merely the faulty reflection of reality found in
a world of particulars."(Funk & Wagnalls) There can be many different types of
evil. Two of such types are moral evil and natural evil. Natural evil consists
of things like pain and suffering, while moral evil consists of making ‘bad'
decisions. "Moral evil depends on the exercise of human will; natural evil is
independent of this." (MacGregor) The main difference between these two evils is
that people are unable to control natural evil, while moral evil depends on
their will. Some people even say physical evil is a human necessity; "Without
the evil of pain, man would not be warned of illness and of danger". (Colliers)
In life, there are times where ‘bad' people are better off than `good' people.
Why is this? Some say it is a test for the soul, and rewards await us. "The
human family is as one, and its members help one another by their good actions
as the also cause suffering to one another for their faults"(Collier). As an
example, take what happened to Jesus. He suffered for all sins of mankind, and
through this saved them all. But what of moral evil, which consists of things
like murder, which people can control? Why does God permit it if the
consequences are undesirable?

     To understand why moral evil exists, the concept of free will must be
understood. Freedom of choice, or free will is "the power and exercise of
unhampered choice." (Webster) Therefore humans are capable of making their own
decisions and doing whatever they please. Freedom doesn't mean an absence of
influences, rather that these influences do not force a person to decide in a
certain way, and he/she can choose between these influences (e.g. A man thinks a
walk outside would be a good idea because he needs fresh air. But, the man is
tired and doesn't really feel like it. He must choose which ‘path' to follow )
People don't always know the influences that act upon them all the time; some of
these are subconscious. Certain people would say that if they knew these
subconscious motivations, our behavior could be explained and free will would be
nullified, since our behavior would always be predictable. "Advocates of free
will do not deny that these unconscious causes exist, simply that it is a
positive casual influence added to the equation." (Royce) Let's say, for example,
a person wanted to hurt another. This person might n...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!

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