Good and Evil – What is it?
In the Phaedo, after Socrates has his
chains removed, he says that he feels a pleasure from his legs where the chains
had been just a short while before. He suggests that pain and pleasure may be part
of the same thing - and perhaps joined together in some way with a common head.
In other words, he suggests that these two opposites are connected in some
way. Indeed, in the Socratic thought,
the connection of various opposites is a common thought - i.e. something can
only become hot if it was cooler before; the fast running race horse must have
been running slowly to begin with before it was running fast. We can think of many
more smaller ‘particular’ examples of this connection of opposites by a common
root or thread.
However, also in the Phaedo, when Socrates
gives his first ‘proof’ of why he thinks that the soul exists (from his five
proofs) he talks about the proof of ‘generation of opposites’ and that life is
generated from death, and vice versa. As a proof that the soul exists, I do not
find this convincing, and my reasons are not important for the purposes of this
short article on good and evil. Nevertheless, it does suggest another level of ‘opposites’
being connected in some way.
So, when trying to decide what good and
evil are and where they come from - one avenue of exploration and personal
investigation is to consider whether good and evil are connected in some way.
Secondly, we can consider whether good
and evil are external forces acting in the world around us – or even throughout
the universe. Are good and evil simply just human qualities – since we all seem
to have the possibility of good and evil actions within us - but hopefully
choose ‘good’ (or at least ‘relatively good’) actions over evil ones. Sometimes
the situation gets a little blurred since if you killed 10 enemy soldiers in a
war you might well receive a medal from your government for doing so. However,
were you to kill the same 10 soldiers after the war had ended as they enjoyed a
drink and discussed old stories of the war, you would be arrested and put on
trial for murder.
I would suggest that good and evil may
simply be predominantly human qualities, since when the lioness kills the
antelope to feed her Cubs - it is not considered an act of evil; but a man
killing his neighbours for no apparent reason would probably be considered so
by many. Similarly, when an earthquake kills 200 people we do not consider it
as an act of evil. However, when the religious fanatic blows up a passenger aeroplane,
or leaves a bomb in a bar full of young people enjoying a drink or a concert,
then we do regard the killing of the 200 people as an act of evil. As in most
philosophical thought, the practical details appear important; or are good and
evil ‘absolutes’ of ‘perfect ideas’ and therefore never changing?
Now in traditional platonic thought (or at
least as suggested by the later commentator Proclus some 800 years after Plato)
evil as such does not exist; since the whole universe in his view flows out of
the one source of everything; and that one source is always good. In this view,
evil does not exist - only a lack or even complete absence of the ‘the good’. In regard to our human concept of evil and evil
actions by some people; this idea suggests that evil actions are simply a lack
of ‘good judgement’ or the inability to make a ‘good’ rational choice. For
example, an otherwise good man might kill another man in a moment of anger -
and thus have committed an evil act as a lack of good judgement; and he would
no doubt regret his action the following day. Similarly, but somewhat differently,
the madman who kills his neighbour over a minor matter would be lacking the
healthy and good mind in order to make a good rational choice. Even if he did not regret his action the next day if in
a confused and unstable mental state, in many ways it would be hard to define
his actions as a result of some ‘evil power’ operating within the universe, or
at least within anthropomorphic part of it. The man was simply unwell and
lacking a good healthy mind to make a reasonable action.
Most organised religions with influence
in our modern day promote the idea of evil as being some kind of divine power
and give various explanations of how it came into being in the first place
(fallen angles etc), and how it operates - and who it operates on and through.
The above few short paragraphs offer no
clear answers – but simply allow us to start our investigation of evil.
Socrates advises us in many of his conversations with people, that is wise
before you start to discuss something, that you define exactly what you mean by
the term being discussed - i.e. evil in this case. Is it a divine and malignant
force operating in the universe (as suggested in the Star Wars movies or some
major organised religions today) that affects us all if we are not very careful;
or is it simply when human beings make badly judged or irrational actions.
Additionally, if good and evil are in
some way linked (as are pain and pleasure as previously discussed above regarding
the removal of Socrates chains) it would suggest that all of us have the
potential for evil thoughts and deeds unless we are careful with our thoughts
and actions - and have control and discipline over our desires, tempers, and
other emotions. We might do well therefore, to consider ways that encourage us
and help us to keep our emotions under control; and how to avoid things that slowly
lead us towards bad and evil acts. For example, the police officer who accepts
a small bribe this month from a drug dealer for a small favour- is likely to
find him or herself is at risk a month or 2 later of being forced to take
another bribe for a much more serious favour. The person who makes small false
declarations with their company expenses this month, is more likely in a month
or 2 to make bigger force declarations - and risk losing their good name, job
and most importantly for philosophers – VIRTUE.
In my view, we have to be real careful about
things that tempt us towards small acts of badness or corruption, since these
small steps lead us down the start of a path that may be difficult to stop once
we had started.
As in Plato’s Phaedrus - the charioteer must
try to use the horse which is good and noble, rather than that which is ugly,
selfish, brutish, and bad in every other way.
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