Table of Contents
What can evil be defined as?
Definition of evil (Entry 2 of 3) 1a : the fact of suffering, misfortune, and wrongdoing. b : a cosmic evil force. 2 : something that brings sorrow, distress, or calamity.
What is the philosophical definition of evil?
In contemporary philosophy, there are two basic concepts of evil: a broad concept and a narrow concept. A broad concept defines evil simply as any and all pain and suffering: “any bad state of affairs, wrongful action, or character flaw”.
What is Aristotle’s definition of evil?
Aristotle explores the nature of evil through the discussion of a term: akrasia, or weakness of will. He thought that it’s too simple, and inaccurate, and misleading, to say that evil is a matter of sheer ignorance.
What defines natural evil?
Natural evils are bad states of affairs which do not result from the intentions or negligence of moral agents. Hurricanes and toothaches are examples of natural evils. By contrast, moral evils do result from the intentions or negligence of moral agents. Murder and lying are examples of moral evils.
What are the different types of evil?
There are two main types of evil:
- Moral evil – This covers the willful acts of human beings (such as murder, rape, etc.)
- Natural evil – This refers to natural disasters (such as famines, floods, etc.)
Who is an evil person?
Simply put: an evil person is someone who engages in malevolent behaviors. Some argue that they’re immoral, sick, depraved, or wicked, but those words are hard to define. Immorality to one is normalcy to another. Evil people come from all sorts of places, often ones you wouldn’t expect.
What is the problem of evil in philosophy?
The Problem of Evil. The epistemic question posed by evil is whether the world contains undesirable states of affairs that provide the basis for an argument that makes it unreasonable to believe in the existence of God. This discussion is divided into eight sections.
Is there such a thing as an evil person?
‘Evil’ is an aberration, a form of pathology, as the psychopathic personality shows, which only emerges when we are broken off into disconnected fragments. Steve Taylor is the author of The Leap: The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
Which is the best description of the concept of evil?
In contrast to the broad concept of evil, the narrow concept of evil picks out only the most morally despicable sorts of actions, characters, events, etc. As Marcus Singer puts it “‘evil’ [in this sense] … is the worst possible term of opprobrium imaginable” (Singer 2004, 185).
Philip Zimbardo: The psychology of evil. Philip George Zimbardo is a psychologist and a professor emeritus at Stanford University. People like to believe the line between good and evil is clear – with them on one side, others always evil. Philip shows that this line is far more permeable – good can go bad, and ‘evil’ people can be redeemed.