Is Evil Real?

“Evil (sometimes) is the absence of good.” ? —?Paraphrased from centuries of philosophical debate

Ever since humans developed the capacity to question right and wrong, the concept of evil has occupied center stage in moral and religious thought.?

Ancient texts?—?like the Mesopotamian myths or the early Greek philosophers?—?often portray evil as a cosmic, active force working to oppose gods or heroes.?

Fast forward, and medieval Christian theologians like Augustine famously argued that evil isn’t a separate, active power, but rather the privatio boni: a privation of good. Which is to say?—?evil is just good that’s missing. Tomas Aquinas stood on Augustine’s ideas, further suggesting that God couldn’t create evil as a thing unto itself.?

Instead, evil manifests wherever goodness fails to appear (at least that’s what most of us believed at the beginning of the 2nd millennium).

Jump again to modern times: philosophical and psychological theories on “evil” revolve around concepts like “moral injury,” “empathy gaps,” and “destructive ideologies.” Evil is back, and it is active again, apparently.?

But I’m not so sure?—?does evil really exist as an independent entity or is it just a label we slap on extreme moral failings?

My Historical Take: Evil Isn’t?“Real”

I propose that evil doesn’t exist as a distinct, active force. Instead, it’s the “absence of good” in a person, system, or concept. I believe it is a passive force.?

The reason is that when we look at history over long spans of time, moral judgments simplify into two broad categories:

1. Extreme presence of goodness affecting large numbers of humans.
2. Extreme absence of goodness affecting large numbers of humans.

Easiest rebuttal: “Hitler was evil.” That’s the knee-jerk example.?

I would (carefully) respond that not enough time has passed for us to see that scenario purely as an absence of good. Humanity hasn’t collectively distanced itself to reframe the horrors of the Third Reich as “lack of moral awareness” (or a full-on moral meltdown) rather than an active entity of “evil.”?

We’re still emotionally attached. We label it “evil” because it’s recent, raw, and unbelievably horrific.

Now consider Alexander the Great: widely praised, even romanticized by historians. Yet he conquered, enslaved, tortured, and killed millions.?

What’s going on here? As centuries have passed, we’ve collectively withdrawn the “evil” label. Instead, we talk about the cultural exchanges he facilitated or the empire-building feats.?

We chalk up the cruelty to “the times,” or “lack of modern ethical awareness,” effectively absolving Alexander the Great and all associated parties of the evil brand. (I’m sure the cultural, ethnic, & religious groups that Alexander’s army destroyed would have something to say about this, were they still around. But they aren’t.)

Which is exactly my point: the more time that separates us from morally abhorrent acts, the less we label them “evil” and the more we interpret them as “absence of the moral frameworks we have today.”

Why It?Matters

If evil is just an extreme lack of goodness, we can focus on the moral vacuum that’s actually the root cause.?

Our conception of evil underlies how we handle social conflicts, how we do justice, and how we move forward as a global community.?

Constantly labeling people or institutions as “evil” cements them as irredeemable. But if it’s truly an “absence of good,” we can approach it from the standpoint of “What’s missing in their moral consciousness, and can it be corrected or mitigated?”

Our economy?—?with profit-driven metrics that don’t weigh human well-being?—?could be viewed as an “evil system.” But I’d contend that it’s an environment lacking consistent moral consideration, i.e., an absence of goodness.?

If we reintroduced moral weighting?—?valuing workers, communities, and the environment?—?much of what we call “evil corporate behavior” might vanish.

Labeling “evil” creates divisions, moral lines in the sand. If we see it instead as lack of good, we focus on remedying that lack. Education, empathy training, rebuilding ethical frameworks?—?these become the tools for preventing future atrocities.

Final Musings

So, is evil real? I argue no: we just have huge swaths of absent good, historically speaking.?

The scary part is how easily humans can slip into that vacuum when there’s no moral anchoring?—?whether it’s a person, a government, or an entire economic system.

The good news: if it’s just an absence of good, we can fill that void with moral clarity.?

We can fix it by building cultures that cherish empathy, humility, and awareness. We’re looking for a place where the quickness to judge something as “evil” is replaced by a willingness to see the moral emptiness behind it?—?and then something is done about that emptiness.

So let’s resist quick demonizations. Let’s see moral failings as moral gaps. Because the sooner we stop labeling things as irredeemably evil, the sooner we can take genuine steps toward healing and progress.

About the Author

Sam Hilsman is the CEO of CloudFruit? & HiiBo. If you want to invest in HiiBo or oneXerp, reach out. If you want to become a developer ambassador for HiiBo, visit www.HiiBo.app/dev-ambassadors.