- Joined
- Aug 6, 2006
- Messages
- 2,765
- Reaction score
- 1,059
good and evil are human perceptions. you will notice that definitions of what is good and what is evil will vary form culture to culture; sometimes the gap is so deep, that what one culture sees as a virture will be deemed deadly imoral by another.
you can answer the question yourself by observing the world outside human culture/society -- is it evil for a lioness to kill in order to feed her brood? it is necessary, no more, no less. how would a human perceive the same situation -- if they absolutely had to kill another in order to survive, the deed would no longer appear evil to them, they would have to rationalize it so that they can go on surviving.
however, as a writer, you must adhere to the mores and morals of your audience. your audience does not care for perceptions of good and evil that do not conform to its own expectations, hence, you ought not ask whether something is either good or evil, but whether your audience will perceive it as either good or evil.
you can answer the question yourself by observing the world outside human culture/society -- is it evil for a lioness to kill in order to feed her brood? it is necessary, no more, no less. how would a human perceive the same situation -- if they absolutely had to kill another in order to survive, the deed would no longer appear evil to them, they would have to rationalize it so that they can go on surviving.
however, as a writer, you must adhere to the mores and morals of your audience. your audience does not care for perceptions of good and evil that do not conform to its own expectations, hence, you ought not ask whether something is either good or evil, but whether your audience will perceive it as either good or evil.