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Revision as of 11:48, 11 October 2002 by Khendon (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Evil is an ambiguous word generally describing that which is morally bad, wrong, wicked (by some moral standard); it also describes conditions that are painful, ruinous, or disastrous. It is one half of the duality of good and evil expressed, in some form or another, by all known cultures.
The concept of natural evil refers to things not caused by acts of human will, such as natural disasters, death, pain, and disease. Moral evil refers to human acts that are judged to be morally wicked.
Views on how good and evil are defined lie between two extremes. Moral absolutism holds that good and evil are fixed concepts of reality, established by God, nature, or some other authority. Moral relativism holds that standards of good and evil are only products of local culture, custom, or prejudice.
Regardless of the source of their definitions, most cultures have a large common set of beliefs about what things are evil. Natural evils generally include accidental death, disease, and other misfortunes. Moral evils generally include violence toward others (though perhaps not to "outsiders" of the group), and deceitfulness. "Taking advantage of another person for one's own benefit" is the Unification Church definition of evil.
The Abrahamic religions, as well as others, are largely centered around the concepts of good and evil, and this has lead to much religious debate. Many cultures and mythologies personify evil, such as with Satan in Christianity. Others describe evil spirits or demons as the inciters of acts.
Many cultures recognize many levels of immoral behavior, from minor vices to major crimes. These beliefs are often encoded into the laws of a society, with methods of judgment and punishment for offenses.
From the Jargon File
As used by hackers, evil implies that some system, program, person, or institution is sufficiently maldesigned as to be not worth the bother of dealing with. Unlike the adjectives in the cretinous/losing/brain-damaged series, evil does not imply incompetence or bad design, but rather a set of goals or design criteria fatally incompatible with the speaker's. This usage is more an esthetic and engineering judgment than a moral one in the mainstream sense. "We thought about adding a Blue Glue interface but decided it was too evil to deal with." "TECO is neat, but it can be pretty evil if you're prone to typos." Often pronounced with the first syllable lengthened, as /eeee'vil/. Compare evil and rude.