does evil exist in its own right?

[Violet]

"Does evil exist in its own right?"

I do exist, don't I?

[KichigaiNeko]

So do a great many people.

meh

[genkaus]

Evil is the negative polar opposite of goodness. It doesn't exist independently, it exists with respect goodness which does exist it's own right. It exists in mind/soul but what has true existence is goodness. Goodness is positive existence and has real existence. It has an objective basis in eternal reality (God) and trickles down to us within our subjective context (plato's cave) where we need to see our inner morality through culture and society yet are also blinded by society and culture. We are in tune with objective morality in some cases and not in tune in others.

And how do you know that it's not the other way around?

[Minimalist]

"Evil" does not exist without humans to define it as something they do not like at any given moment in time. One might go so far as to say that "evil" is only "evil" while someone is doing it or after they have been stopped from doing it.

Had Hitler won WWII there would be statues of him all over Europe.

[Pip]

Does evil exist? Evil alters dependent on the position of the observer holding the moral compass. Thus evil is culturally relative. From this stance I then ask the question are any babies born evil?

[Angrboda]

Does evil exist? Evil alters dependent on the position of the observer holding the moral compass. Thus evil is culturally relative. From this stance I then ask the question are any babies born evil?

Does that include yourself, Herr Meister Sock?

[Aroura]

To answer the OP question, I think evil is completely subjective, and doesn't exist "in its own right" at all. That is, humans invented the idea.

When a fox kills a rabbit to eat it, is it evil? The fix must kill it for the fox's own survival, but if the rabbit had notions of good and evil, then to the rabbit and its family, the fox is surely evil.

[Darkstar]

I think a better way to define this would be as malice.

mal·ice (mls)
n.
1. A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite.
2. Law The intent, without just cause or reason, to commit a wrongful act that will result in harm to another.

There are some things that may cause cultural differences in the perception of evil, but regardless, unprovoked malice could fall into this category almost objectively. When a fox kills a rabbit, is this malicious? Not necessarily, especially as the fox must do so in order to survive. However, if the fox tortured the rabbit beforehand, this would be considered malicious. Sadism, for example, could be considered evil objectively were in not for the fact that there a small number of masochistic people who would like it.

Nonetheless, I do not think that anyone here can argue that torturing someone for sadistic pleasure (preseiming they aren't severely masochistic) is 'evil' regarless of socil context.

[The Grand Nudger]

I think a better way to define this would be as malice.

mal·ice (mls)
n.
1. A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite.
2. Law The intent, without just cause or reason, to commit a wrongful act that will result in harm to another.

There are some things that may cause cultural differences in the perception of evil, but regardless, unprovoked malice could fall into this category almost objectively. When a fox kills a rabbit, is this malicious? Not necessarily, especially as the fox must do so in order to survive. However, if the fox tortured the rabbit beforehand, this would be considered malicious. Sadism, for example, could be considered evil objectively were in not for the fact that there a small number of masochistic people who would like it.

Nonetheless, I do not think that anyone here can argue that torturing someone for sadistic pleasure (preseiming they aren't severely masochistic) is 'evil' regarless of socil context.

Probably because malice and sadism don't cross over the bar of social context. These things (and more importantly the value judgement connected to them) are very much an issue of social context. Malice and sadism have been (and in some cases still are) seen as virtues..specifically with regards to ones enemies.