What is the nature of evil?

For lack of a simpler statement, I think 'evil' can be anything that the audience/public/society does not like. However, the idea of 'not liking something' is very broad, and encompasses several opinions of what 'evil' really is.

In everyday life, on the streets of Toronto, 'evil' is usually associated with a crime - something that can be punished by law (such as theft/assault/murder etc.) However, these are just physical actions that someone can identify as being 'evil'.

On the other side, people's values and ethics also come into the picture, and this leads to 'evil' through judgment rather than just an 'act'. The book I have chosen (The Book of Lost Things), has an 'evil' character - and he is known to be a trickster. If his actions had a physical outlook, he would be referred to as a thief or a robber, but he plays with the mind more than anything else, and as a result, he is known as a trickster. Such actions as well are considered to be 'evil'.

Some can be a mixture of both, it can have a lasting physical impact as well as a psychological impact. The events of September 11, 2001 are recognized to be 'evil', and can definitely be broken down into an event that had a physical and a psychological impact. The physical part was the crashing of the planes into the towers, and the subsequent collapse. The mind, however, was affected even more because of the countless conspiracy theories that surfaced as a result. Many blamed the faction of Al-Qaeda for the attacks; many blamed the American government; and many specifically blamed President Bush. People around the world are divided on the question "'who was behind it?".


Sahil