WHAT IS EVIL? By Arthur Chappell 2007 Print: £8.12 Download: £3.75
http://www.lulu.com/content/764044Why
are there so many murders, rapes, wars and genocides? Are people fundamentally, intrinsically evil by nature? I say no
.This is myHumanistic philosophical assessment of the nature of human evil. Many religious people see evil as being caused merely by too many people not following a particular religious doctrine. This approach is too simplistic. Evil is caused by an imbalance between liberty and discipline. Too many stringent rules and puritanical taboos can make a government seem tyrannical so people rebel through anything from minor crime to full blown political revolution and civil war. A totalitarian regime may well even target neighbours. By contrast, an over-liberal society makes people too hedonistic and often morally negligent. It also creates unhappiness for those who would rather tighten up on law and discipline – the
criminal vigilante decides to purge the streets of people of lower morals as the Yorkshire Ripper did in attacking what he saw as promiscuous women – and those wanting strong government preach simple hate messages to drive the weaker liberals out of office – avoiding evils involves not going to excess on the right or left wing of the political or moral spectrum. There are many examples given to support my case, and references to many philosophers, including Nietzsche. Many evil people are mentioned, Hitler, The Moors Murderers, etc and there is an examination of why the religious belief in evil shows that a loving God is either unable or unwilling to prevent evil. Natural Evil, such as death by disease and volcanoes are also examined. That is very much the perspective of this essay. 48 pages, 6.14" x 9.21", saddle-stitch binding, white interior paper (55# weight), black and white interior ink, white
exterior paper (90# weight), full-colour exterior ink Arthur Chappell