Looking in to The Abyss..

Time for another one of my ambitious attempts at sparking a conversation aimed towards understanding nature – specifically, this time, the nature of evil. Let us start with a closer look at the scope of its definition itself.

When confronted, as usual, with the lack of a focal point of analysis or even a starting one, I looked to the internet and did a preliminary scan of the discussions on the subject and these are the conclusions I came to on my own, based on varying approaches. Morality and ethics, as human- constructed concepts shall not be referred to much, as they are fluid and redefine their boundaries over periods of time.

We’ll begin with an interesting view explained in a book titled “What Evil Means to Us” by C. Fred Alford. The author, after speaking with a rather diverse sample of the population, who he refers to as his informants, states that many people defined evil as an emotional experience than an entity. Evil, he says, is a feeling of overwhelming dread and helplessness, a feeling of emptiness and  loneliness combined with a fear of loss of meaning, history and by extension - that of life. A complete awareness of human vulnerability. The act of doing evil is the attempt by us to take back some form of control and escape this feeling, by inflicting this same dread on others through pain and suffering.

This was new to me. I must confess, I had strayed from personal emotion and had focused on intellectually accessible psycho-social aspects of the manifestation and origins of evil in the world. No doubt as a result of immature paranoia about losing my way in the labyrinth of theology and philosophy.

Upon some introspection, I agreed with the author to some extent as I discovered the shades of the view of his informants in my own motivations and behaviour.  He goes on to explain and deconstruct several views regarding the concept and reality of evil. Those interested may find his book in Google Books. Note the parallels in scripture and literature that speak of evil as appearing out of a primordial darkness – nothingness..

Another branch of discussion seemed to be related to the application of the template of evil in nature and explaining humanity through this. However, I disagree with the notion of nature, simply as the origin of man and man’s subsequent separation from its structure by virtue of his higher intellect and self awareness. Whatever we are – it’s natural. Man’s loftiest accomplishments and his darkest moments fall promptly within the parameters of nature. Nature is Gandhi and Buddha and Hitler and Bundy. There is no separation of our realities. If it exists, it is by definition, natural.

While nature might not be a conscious being capable of motivated acts, its rules of external ‘macro’ homeostasis and survival have far reaching implications within ourselves than we care to admit. So, the myopic observation of nature as indiscriminate evil, that causes suffering through inaction for continued existence, is like trying to understand physical health by merely noting the symptoms of diseases.

Allegories and metaphors are equally confusing because more often than not they try to explain evil in terms of darkness and light- a futile task if you ask me, as we seem to be living in eternal twilight, where one blends into the other. The more one looks into it, evil becomes faceless, without a discernible shape or identity, dissolving into the abstraction of instincts, fears and reasons buried deep within layers of life itself.

Whether evolution allows us at this point in our journey, to reach a consensus regarding the definition of evil and the scope of its reality in our lives, is at best questionable. The only hope I can find is for us to strive to develop a comprehensive study on the topic by diving into multiple disciplines simultaneously, like philosophy, psychology, theology, sociology, biology, criminology, history, culture studies etc. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to confine our thinking on everything by firmly rooting ourselves in one area and then using the rest in a relational and therefore diminished capacity.. ;)

In the end, we are what we are. But it would be wise to accept that being sapient is not what separates us from the rest of the natural world, but what allows us to be more than just passive participants in its complex and somewhat ‘cosmic’ cycle of existence.

While pain and suffering may be an inevitable and non-negotiable part of our lives, surely we can do something to lessen it, if not control or eradicate it. It would be the worthiest of pursuits and knowing ‘evil’ or at least attempting to, seems like the way to understanding it while not giving up the right to condemn it.

"With everyday, and both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to the truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two."

- Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde