This is a part of a big piece I’ve been working on for the past few months. It’s an idea that requires more research compared to my recent Pillars piece, so I’m taking my time. I’d like to put something out to gauge interest and perhaps even get some feedback. Hopefully, I finish the piece within 2025 and make something bigger out of it. It’s about the eternal question of what good and evil are. There have been tons of answers and interpretations throughout history, and my contribution may be derivative or even pointless. However, I’ll posit here a point that I think is worth thinking about.
Here’s my own categorization of good and evil:
- Active Good
- Reactive Good
- Passive Evil
- Reactive Evil
- Active Evil
The main difference between good and evil in this categorization is there is no such thing as passive good. The best an idle person can do is be neutral, which can easily lean towards passive evil if it enables reactive or active evil in some way through consciously turning a blind eye or merely willful ignorance.
There are more ways to be evil than to be good. The least you need to do to be evil is to do nothing. To be good is a concerted effort; it takes less effort to be evil. Many people believe in the existence of passive good through religion or positive thinking. However, this is ignorance at best — either deliberate ignorance because they don’t want to do anything beyond being neutral to not incur risk, or they simply don’t know anything better other than thoughts and prayers.
Passive evil is apathy and ignorance. You can’t fault people for being ignorant in some way — we are all ignorant to some degree. However, when your choice upon being made aware of an evil is to continue to feign ignorance, that’s passive evil at the very least. That is allowing evil to happen, thus you’re indirectly complicit to it.
It can also happen when one’s good intentions are not matched with good actions. This is similar to passive evil, but what makes it go beyond passive is the engagement of action. Perhaps they wanted to do something to help someone, yet it was unsolicited and kept secret or simply done without consent. What can make it evil is ignorance of whether it actually does good for that other person, either deliberate ignorance or just not considering their perspective in the first place.
Reactive evil is envy and revenge. Those who engage in this may not be inherently evil, but something can cause them to do harm to someone else to get back at them in the name of one’s own honor and justice. Such evil can result in great harm as one’s desire for one’s own justice can override their sense of decency and courtesy because they’re no longer thinking about what’s good, but what will satisfy their thirst for revenge.
Meanwhile, envy can sit along the line between reactive and active evil because it doesn’t even require the victim to do anything other than whatever triggers that jealousy in the first place. Envy is insidious because it can come out of nothing other than one’s chronic insecurities.
Active evil is hatred and malevolence. If someone knows what they’re doing is harmful, yet they still go through with it even if harm was never done to them first, then that is a form of active evil. This usually happens when they have something to gain at the expense of others.
It can also take place when the offender has genuine hatred for the victim.
On the other hand, active good is altruism and virtue. It is good done out of kindness and empathy without external triggers and expectation of reward or compensation.
Reactive good is compassion and cooperation. Reacting to witnessing the plight of others by doing good is to show compassion, and helping other likeminded people help them is cooperation.
Reactive good can result from being shamed into doing good, and that shaming can be an evil in itself through abuse and psychological trauma. You can still good through selfish intention, but it creates good nonetheless.
For instance, charity to boost your reputation is nonetheless an act of altruism, even though giving money when you have plenty to spare is the most nonchalant and effortless form of help. Perhaps that money still needs time and effort to earn, but that time and effort had already been spent and your ability to make money can still increase as you accumulate more capital.
As I said, I’m still working on expanding this idea. I don’t intend to create some new form of moral philosophy, but merely to simplify and clarify how we see good and bad in this world.
Too many people see good in evil and evil in good. They also confuse harmless things with evil due to aesthetics and preconceived notions, as well as harmful things as good due to propaganda and subterfuge.
I’m posting this now because it’s the one-year anniversary since something happened that made me realize what reactive evil is.
