What does it mean by Evil?

Dr Evil in Austin Powers

Evil is defined in Wikipedia as "the violation of, or intent to violate, some moral code. Evil is usually seen as the dualistic opposite of The Good. Definitions of evil vary, as does the analysis of its root motives and causes; however, evil is commonly associated with conscious and deliberate wrongdoing, discrimination designed to harm others, humiliation of people designed to diminish their psychological well-being and dignity, destructiveness, motives of causing 'unnecessary' pain or suffering and acts of unnecessary or indiscriminate violence. The philosophical question of whether morality is absolute or relative leads to questions about the nature of evil, with views falling into one of four opposed camps: moral absolutism, amoralism, moral relativism, and moral universalism."


From religions point of view, evil is associated with the devil, demons etc. And quite often, anything that goes against a religion's rules or believes are called evil by some. E.g.: dragons are evil; talks of past life is evil; anal sex is evil (I'm not advocating anal sex btw ;-p); the list goes on...


The word evil has been used so loosely as a result of the implanted believe systems that we have that what we call evil may really not be evil but merely something quite ordinary to others.


Evil to me is the intent to knowingly cause harm to others for personal gain or sadistic pleasure. Note that causing harm to others out of defense is not evil in my humble opinion.


Let me give an example here:- say a child or rather a baby of few months old is just lying in the baby cot. And person A, in a fit of temper, whether out of argument with the baby's mother (B), threatens to kill the baby with a knife. And at the last moment just before the unthinkable act, was stopped because B out of defense threatens to push the A's child down the stairs if B proceeds. Sorta like a Mexican standoff ;-p . A aborts and this event does not take place. But constantly after that says unimaginable thinks like, "hope B's kid falls to his death", "hope B's kid get burnt" etc etc. And creates events for decades that causes tensions to B. Is A an evil person or just plain insane?


But before you answer, know this...People who do acts of evil need not necessarily look at themselves as gleefully evil. Know what I mean? And let's face it, anyone who does an act of evil may not be in the right frame of mind at that point in time when the act is being performed. There are numerous reasons that can drive a person to do such acts. Severe depression is one common reason. Extreme hatred another (but not towards others). Karmic bonds could also be another and is usually difficult to explain/reason.


So honestly, I don't know. But it sure looks like A is. This is my opinion. If anybody has a different opinion, I would like to know. :-)