What is evil? (4 Viewers)

[snakybus]

What is it?

 

[Goodbye]

evil |ˈēvəl|
adjective
profoundly immoral and malevolent : his evil deeds | no man is so evil as to be beyond redemption.
• (of a force or spirit) embodying or associated with the forces of the devil : we have been driven out of the house by this evil spirit.
• harmful or tending to harm : the evil effects of high taxes.
• (of something seen or smelled) extremely unpleasant : a bathroom with an evil smell.
noun
profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity, esp. when regarded as a supernatural force : the world is stalked by relentless evil | good and evil in eternal opposition.
• a manifestation of this, esp. in people's actions : the evil that took place last Thursday.
• something that is harmful or undesirable : sexism, racism, and all other unpleasant social evils.
PHRASES
the evil eye a gaze or stare superstitiously believed to cause material harm : he gave me the evil eye as I walked down the corridor.
the Evil One archaic the Devil.
put off the evil day (or hour) postpone something unpleasant for as long as possible.
speak evil of slander : it is a sin to speak evil of the king.
DERIVATIVES
evilly |ˈēvəl(l)ē| adverb
evilness noun
ORIGIN Old English yfel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch euvel and German Übel.

Thesaurus
evil
adjective
1 an evil deed wicked, bad, wrong, immoral, sinful, foul, vile, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, reprobate, villainous, nefarious, vicious, malicious; malevolent, sinister, demonic, devilish, diabolical, fiendish, dark; monstrous, shocking, despicable, atrocious, heinous, odious, contemptible, horrible, execrable; informal lowdown, dirty. antonym good, virtuous.
2 an evil spirit cruel, mischievous, pernicious, malignant, malign, baleful, vicious; destructive, harmful, hurtful, injurious, detrimental, deleterious, inimical, bad, ruinous. antonym good, beneficial.
3 an evil smell unpleasant, disagreeable, nasty, horrible, foul, disgusting, filthy, vile, noxious. antonym pleasant.
noun
1 the evil in our midst wickedness, bad, badness, wrongdoing, sin, ill, immorality, vice, iniquity, degeneracy, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, malevolence; devil; formal turpitude.
2 nothing but evil would ensue harm, pain, misery, sorrow, suffering, trouble, disaster, misfortune, catastrophe, affliction, woe, hardship.
3 the evils of war abomination, atrocity, obscenity, outrage, enormity, crime, monstrosity, barbarity.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

It's a low down thing.

 

[Thebeard]

Evil is the devil without the D.

 

[snakybus]

Are good and evil in eternal opposition?

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

It is what makes goodness possible.

 

[Yurn!]

 

[ratmonkey]

Are good and evil in eternal opposition?

Did you never see G vs E?

That was great. One of the few things on TV3 you could say that about.

 

[ratmonkey]

Evil is the devil without the D.

Also without the definite article.

 

[Skrankio-X]

It's a social construction

 

[Froog]

its a black gooey substance like marmite. not bad on toast.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

It's a social construction

Exactly.

The universe is indifferent.

 

[the strange guy]

Evil only exists in our minds, dude.

 

[ravishinrikrude]

It's a social construction

......constructed to categorize sick fucks who ....... eat their children, keep their families under the floorboards, genocidal asswipes, set old people on fire and that international terrorist from austin powers who went around wrecking the gaf. doctor something ..... can't remember

 

[Reets]

It's a social construction

then how come different societies and civilizations throughout history have had a few things in common that they call evil?

 

[Lili Marlene]

it's the inability to forgive Gary Glitter

I mean, it's what it sounds like when doves are slaughtered

 

[Reets]

like a splat like thing? or by doves do you mean sacrificed virgins?

 

[Lili Marlene]

I mean like when they cry

and then you murder them.

evil.

 

[Reets]

not really, they're pretty much albino pigeons, and as it a well know fact that pigeons are evil, so death of pigeons=the greater good.

 

[the strange guy]

then how come different societies and civilizations throughout history have had a few things in common that they call evil?

Then is there a neural correlation to the shared concept of evil?
This question warrants more research.