2 Answers

  1. Good and evil are two relative concepts created to prevent chaos and pacify the natural savagery of man. In fact, neither evil nor good exists. There is only an evaluation system that depends on the cultural factors of the society that forms these concepts. For example, human sacrifice is considered murder and brutality for most people, and among the Aztecs it was quite a normal practice. We could blame their entire people for their ruthlessness, if we didn't know one simple fact: being born and raised in a certain socio-cultural environment (especially if there is no access to comparison) in most cases leads to the fact that the individual will perceive the concepts of good and evil according to the norms established in this environment, even if ritual murders, cannibalism, pedophilia, and so on are practiced in society.

    If you do not consider these concepts from this point of view, then a quote from Bulgakov will do well: “There are no evil people in the world, there are only unhappy people.”

  2. Aurelius Augustine pondered this question a lot, trying to overcome the Manichaean dualism ( good – Light, perfection, immortality, evil – the whole material world). In particular, in his” Confession “(book seven), he comes to the conclusion that evil does not exist at all, because: “only good can become worse… and what is not good at all, nothing can get worse.” What we call evil is something ” taken separately, which does not agree with something. But the same thing is consistent with the other, turns out to be good here, and is good in itself. And everything that is not mutually consistent is consistent with the lower world, which we call earth, with its cloudy and windy climate, which is suitable for it.”

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