I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the definition of “evil.”
Most times, when we talk about it, it feels big, supernatural, connected to religious stories or mythical figures. Or we point to the extremes – serial killers, historical tyrants.
But placing evil only in these far-off or larger-than-life places makes it feel separate from the ordinary choices people make every single day.
The more I’ve turned it over in my mind, especially looking at the political turmoil around us, the more I keep simplifying it.
Maybe evil isn’t a thing as much as it is a verb, or maybe a state.
My current working definition? Evil is simply the enactment of a lack of empathy or caring for “the other.”
“The other” is whoever the action is directed towards, and that target can shift based on the whim of the person acting.
I tested this idea by looking at acts I find truly awful and asking: Did this involve a lack of empathy or caring for someone considered “other”? Every time, it fit.
This simpler view of evil makes me think of Hannah Arendt’s powerful concept: “the banality of evil.” Arendt, writing about the trial of Nazi official Adolf Eichmann, observed that horrific evil wasn’t always committed by monsters, but could stem from ordinary people engaging in thoughtlessness, conformity, and a failure to truly think from the perspective of others – essentially, a lack of empathy and critical engagement with the consequences of their actions on “the other.”
It’s interesting how this also connects back to the core tenets of so many major religions. The Golden Rule, in all its various forms (“Do unto others…”, “Hurt not others…”, “Love for your brother what you love for yourself”) – it’s fundamentally about empathy and recognizing the shared humanity (or interconnectedness) with “the other.”
Yet, here we are, watching leaders advocate for harmful policies, revealing a stark lack of empathy for those considered “other.” This deficiency is mirrored in much of our public discourse, where reasoned debate too often devolves into personal attacks rather than substantive engagement with ideas. Instead of critiquing proposals, individuals target each other, fostering a toxic environment that hinders productive dialogue and echoes the very lack of care we see in some leadership
This leads me to think about cultural currents, like the strong emphasis on “rugged individualism” in America. It often seems to pit the desires of the individual against the well-being of the community. Is this where the seeds of this kind of “evil” – the lack of care for the “other” within the community – are sown and watered?
This individualistic focus feels particularly stark when contrasted with cultures that prioritize the community, like many of the Nordic countries. In places like Scandinavia, there seems to be a deeply ingrained understanding that investing in the well-being of the community – through strong social safety nets, public services, etc. – ultimately benefits every individual within that community. This stands in sharp contrast to what often feels like a uniquely American perspective, where a benefit provided to the collective is sometimes perceived as something being taken away from the individual, rather than an investment that enhances everyone’s lives, including their own.
Personally, I feel like I have an “overactive empathy gland.” It’s genuinely hard for me to grasp the mindset that doesn’t want to help a neighbor, that doesn’t see that what lifts the community ultimately lifts the individual too.
Much of this may not be new to anyone. I’ve never actively studied philosophy, only picked up pieces as I’ve gone along. Everything I’m pondering and feeling here has likely been said before, far more articulately, by someone else. All I know is it feels very imperative to consider these things at this moment in history. Would that I could get people to focus on questions like this and think long and hard about what kind of society we want to have and what we want our culture to reflect going forward. Evil or empathy.
Pondering all this leaves me, at times, with a feeling of profound sadness. A sadness that so many seem okay with an approach to our society and government that, by my simple definition, celebrates and enacts cruelty, which feels an awful lot like… evil.
Not sure what to do with all of this…..just some thoughts I’m chewing on.
Curious to hear yours.
-Pat