Please feel free to debate this, as I am currently debating with someone elsewhere that even animals know what good and evil are (which I dispute).

Just for my own curiosity really!

Hoagy

Well I voted that they [i]are[] man-made concepts; I know I've never seen a hungry lion catching a soft, supple, yummy deer, then thinking twice and letting it go out of the kindness of its own heart...

actually, elvis... there was an episode of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom where a female lion took care of a baby deer for a while... that's what i gathered from the commercial, and the video of a lion walking alongside a deer, and not killing it...

anywho, that's besides the point...

i voted no, but it's obvious why i did.

Cat's have a dendancy to do that. Especialy if thier young dissapears before she's ready to ween them off her. They'll adopt anything.

I've seen barn cats who's kittens were taken by the owners or killed by dogs adopt chicks, or pigglets.

We lable that "good"

Good and Evil are purely human concepts.

Good and evil is a matter of opinion; Naturally, everyone thinks they are good and everyone who is against them is bad..I would imagine it works the same way in the animal kingdom. My answer is that the concept of good and evil isnt man made, but the labeling of it is..so my answer is No.

If u see a group of birds( pigeons) on a tree.U throw food on the floor.They will fly down to eat them.But when u move towards them they fly off.They are afraids of stranger as to protect themselves.

But after many days of feeding them.They will slowly able to accept u when u move towards them as they think that u just wanna be friend with them and bring food for them.

Soon,u can even put the food on ur palm and they will fly to ur palm. U can touch their feather now

This is all the natural behavior of the universe.Self protection before trying to communicate with one another.

Good or evil should be made by human concept .The right way to say is self protection.

I have see fish just eat their own babies.They don't know what is good or evil.They just know that when they are hungry.To protect itself from the hunger.He eat his babies That

Self protection should be the right word to put in.I choose "Yes

We as people label things that are not evil with the title of evil. God is a good example, we can't understand his intensions yet many label him as evil and cruel for in his eyes there's nothing cruel about his actions. On the other hand, we label people who agree with us as good and mannered.

I was going to start a thread on this and decided to do a search for it first cause I KNEW someone else had to have started one like it before.

I too believe that good and evil are purely man made concepts. And really vary from person to person and culture to culture. Some acts we may see as evil are holy to others.

Close poll

Hey Hoagy...fancy seeing you on here LOL

I voted yes to man made...because we are what makes all the good and the evil.....



Why PA??

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses of "evil", see Evil (disambiguation).
Evil is a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, or wicked. In most cultures, the word is used to describe acts, thoughts, and ideas which are thought to (either directly or causally) bring about affliction and death — the opposite of life. However, the definition of what counts as evil differs widely from culture to culture and from individual to individual. Some philosophers reject the idea of evil. Plato, for example, argued that that which we call evil is merely ignorance, and that which we call good is merely that which everyone desires.

For those who accept the existence of evil, there are two main beliefs about evil [citation needed]. In some belief systems, evil consists of a willful deviation from a code of laws (written or unwritten) or moral standard, usually proscribed by a holy deity. According to this definition, people who, for example, reject a certain belief or engage in sexual practices against this code are engaged in evil acts. According to other belief systems, evil consists of intentionally doing harm, and so-called "victimless crimes" should not be considered evil. It is important to note, however, that followers of the first definition believe that these "victimless crimes" do indeed have victims, usually the moral soul of the person committing the act.

The duality of 'good versus evil' is expressed, in some form or another, by many cultures. This concept describes a hierarchy of moral standards applied to human behaviour. In more casual or derogatory use, the word "evil" can characterize people and behaviours that are hurtful, ruinous, or disastrous. Those who believe in the duality theory of evil believe that evil cannot exist without good, nor good without evil, as they are both objective states and opposite ends of the same scale.

A similar term, malice, (from the Latin malus meaning "bad") describes the deliberate human intent to harm and be harmful. "Evil", by contrast, tends to represent a more elemental concept; a disembodied spirit that is natural and yet abominable. Whereas "malice" is specifically concerned with the act itself, "evil" is the cause of a malicious act. True evil is sometimes motivated by malicious greed and/or sadism.

on that note then yes it is a man made concept although it has it's place in civilized society

You do know this poll is over a year old......

Well, when I voted, it was 9-10, now it's 11-11 edit: looks like the man-made's pulling away a little . A very close poll. People seem to be split down the middle with this one.

Regards, PA

I realised this was over a year old when I brought it back up. However I am constantly seeing people on here criticized for bringing up a subject which has already been discussed, and not searching on it first.

I truely think this is a good subject to ponder. I've had this discussion with many people and had a good time on the debate. Just wanted to see what everyone on here had to say on the matter.

When you are born you are not born with a sense of killing is evil
you are told
it is the same thing as right and wrong you are taught
why do think there is school in the first place it teaches what commonly is belived to be correct

Animals don't have the capacity to understand good and evil. Sometime we don't understand it ourselves. How many times have I been told my Gods are evil?

I picked that they'er man made concepts.

that is exactly why I chose yes it is a man made concept.

That comment was made to BM. She was saying hello to Hoagy I wasn't criticizing bringing up the old thread.

Regards, PA

indeed. i'd said that they weren't man made concepts, some acts are inherently evil, while others are good. it's only when grey areas are labelled as such do mans concepts start to take over. imo that is.

no animals do not differentiate betwen good and evil those are man made ideas...lol

I vote yes. Humans are the only creatures that have the understanding of right and wrong, good and evil.

Though, when I walk through the door and my dog is shaking because she know she's in trouble for eating my shoes, I sometimes wonder.

Bad is different from evil. She associates eating your shoes with punishment, but she is a dog and she got to chew. Make sure she has something else to chew on besides your shoes. When you catch her chewing your shoe take the shoe away and give her a chew toy(not one that looks like a shoe) rather than punishing her redirect her behavior.

My cat knows her is not suppose to scratch the furniture, but there is this one chair she can't resist. I tried a squirt gun but she would get this look of "up yours". I finally just gave up and that is her chair. Cats are harder to train than dogs. They think of themselves as our equals.

Who do you think god favors more in the web? The spider or the fly?


Good and evil are man made concepts. The proof of this is seen in different cultures where what you think is 'bad' is considered 'good' by the members of the different culture.

In Africa, there is a tribe that thinks it is disgusting and unnatural that people would eat eggs. They feel it is an abomination to eat something that isn't even born yet.

In certain Asian countries, two men can walk down the street holding hands - it is a sign of friendship, and is a 'good' thing'. But in the US (in many parts of the country) similiar behavior is met with name calling and some times worse. It is considered a "bad" thing.

In India, there is a third 'gender' - men who dress and act as women. They fulfill a certain role in that society, and it is considered a 'good' thing. But if a man dresses as a woman in most other parts of the so-called civilized world, he would be met with derision, ridicule, and possibly violence. It is considered a "bad thin".

soley man made concepts, ask people from a tribe in kenya then from a city in the US and you'll get diff answers

I'd say man-made. You have different cultures that have different ideas on what evil is, etc.
I'll add more later.
edit: Wow thanks, Glacies.

I have to...................agree with you on this I say man made

I am glad you did bring this old one up...at least you took the time to look it up...good for you girl

Well put JM.

This brings up a whole other question...the concept of right and wrong. Which is something else I also enjoy debating with people. What exactly is right and what exactly is wrong? For instance...if you ask someone what color the grass is they will usually say 'green' or 'brown' or whatever color the grass might be at that time. However if you ask someone who is colorblind...they may see it completely differently. Does that make it wrong? I think it would be right for them.
Another similar concept is truth and lies. This is quite obvious in the cases of religion...what might be the truth to someone is a lie to someone else. But it also occurs in day to day things...
Funny how concepts that seem to be so black and white can be completely torn apart of you REALLY stop and thing about it. Society has taught us how to think and what is right from wrong. But when it comes down to it...there is no right and wrong, evil, or good, truth or lies. It was all created by men. And 30 years down the road it will all be different than what it is today.

Good and Evil are idiotic illusions which must be destroyed.

I'd have to say it depends, it depends on how you define good & evil and to what you apply those terms, whether universal rights exist, whether any form of divine/natural exists and how that law is meted out, and whether morality and sntience are a package deal or whether sentience can exist without morality.