Homo
sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest
passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.
-
Joyce
Carol Oates
The
short answer is: Evil does not exist! I doubt that I could find
anyone who agrees with me, but please hear me out.
“Evil”
is a word, a symbol of the type Ms. Oates is describing above. As a
noun, it is the name of a set of activities that society deems to be
“evil;” as an adjective, it is a description of certain actions
of people.
It does not exist by itself i.e., without people, any more than
“beauty” exists without beautiful things, or for that matter,
“goodness” exists without good things.
Although
they make wonderful adjectives, striking the nouns
“evil”, “beauty”, “goodness”, etc. from the language
would eliminate much misunderstanding.
There
is only one way to eliminate evil: Eliminate people. That's probably
not a good idea.
******
My books, “There
Are Only Seven Jokes” and “The Spirit Runs Through It” are
available in paperback, or at the Kindle Store.
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