September 23, 2006
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A Conversation Between Good and Evil
I have an idea for a book. I think it might be cool to provide a thorough analysis of good and evil. What makes a person good, and what makes a person evil? What is good, and what is evil? Is evil simply good with misguided intentions, as C.S. Lewis claims? Do they have any kind of concrete nature in the world? Is it all a matter of perspective? Were we to see a duck get eaten by an alligator we could claim the alligator was evil for killing a duck, but from the alligator’s perspective – he was merely hungry. The duck was dinner. Who are we to declare one good and declare another evil. I’d just like to find out, and I currently do not have the answers.
So I thought about what might occur were an individual representing the ‘good’ in the world to meet with an individual representing the ‘bad’ in the world. Perhaps just in a local diner. There they would eat their meals, drink their coffee, and discuss the nature of good and evil. I would, as the author, do my best to remain neutral and let the reader decide for themself who is right and who is wrong….or who could be right and who could be wrong. In the end, there may be no definitive answers, but here at the beginning, I’d like to see what could happen were those two to begin to converse.
At the moment, the only plans I’ve made is to have them discuss the four cardinal virtues and the seven deadly sins. After those eleven subjects, I don’t know. Beyond those eleven, I’m writing this entry here to ask what else those two individuals could discuss. What would you like to see discussed? I’m really interested to find out what everyone else has to say…..
Covered at the moment:
1. Justice 2. Temperence 3. Prudence 4. Fortitude
1. Greed 2. Sloth 3. Lust 4. Envy 5. Pride 6. Gluttony 7. Wrath
EDIT: The book will be called ‘A Conversation Between Good and Evil’…hence the title of the post.
Comments (4)
Sounds interesting. I’m not sure exactly how you’ll go about this, but I’d ask you to keep in mind the definitions of these words as you write, otherwise it could be easy to start writing in the justice section something that really is not justice, and so on for the other things. For example, it could be easy to confuse justice with vengeance if you’re trying to make sure you get a good and evil view of all of these that would serve the good or evil side. Looking at things from different perspectives is great, and so can be letting the reader think and consider what is true, but then you have to be careful that you don’t lead readers astray. I’m more interested in what your approach will be than in the particular subjects, but once I know more about your approach, I may be able to offer suggestions on the subjects. I guess what I’d like to see is the first section or chapter. But I like the structure of it so far. It also makes me think of something that could be classic literature.
hm, I figured out a way to state this more clearly. We may have had this discussion before. I don’t remember what it was we disagreed on. Virtues are called such because they’re good, and sins are called such because they’re evil. I believe that certain things are true, that sometimes a certain way of looking at something is the objective, absolute truth, and that other ways of looking at it are false and the one who looks at it wrongly is deceived. However, I don’t believe that all things are good or evil. Some things just are. Plenty of things happen that have no value judgment attached, including decisions. If an alligator eats a duck, that’s neither good nor evil for either one. For there to be life, there has to be death. That’s how life works, with eating other things. When the duck came to life, it wasn’t guaranteed to live forever. Death isn’t an evil. Socrates said this. It’s good for the croc to eat the duck, not in a value judgement sense; it’s just natural for the croc to eat things, and if it didn’t eat, it would die. Anyway, I’m just not into the postmodern system of thinking in our times. There have been several ways of thinking in different ages, like reason in the Enlightenment, Romanticism, etc. These things pass. But thinking that is true will stand. People have different ways they think, too, and I’m not criticizing that; some like reason or intuition, and those can all be good. What I mean by postmodern in this context is that good and evil could be put on the same plane, and the best one could not be determined. If I’m reading you completely wrong and you’re using this method to let people determine the good on their own (to think and take ownership of it) rather than being told that good is good and feeling preached at, let me know. I don’t mean to be down on you. I respect your thoughts and writing ideas. I’m just being honest, and I’m trying to figure out what it is exactly you want to communicate with this book, your purpose, that is.
I was intending to try and be as objective as possible. You are correct about putting good and evil on the same plane though. I don’t want to write with the intent of declaring a winner in the final chapter or anything. Objectivity! Neither promoting good nor condeming evil. Neither saying what is absolutely good nor what is absolutely evil(though what happened in the Amish community yesterday tempts me otherwise). I suppose I would want to try and write about what is good more often than not and what is bad more often than not. Perhaps perspectivism isn’t the best way to go about it, except that when I write from good’s point of view or evil’s point of view. I am still trying to figure out a format worthy of such a discussion. Your comments have helped. My three short stories began with just an idea, and then they more or less wrote themselves. Once I realized who the characters were and how they interacted with each other, dialogue and purpose came easy. I may not know how anything will be discussed(not even the order in which they are discussed) until I’m writing.
What I do know is that before I really get underway I’d like to read a handful of books(including some of C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity). I’ll do a little research on the virtues and sins essentialy. Maybe commit a few in the name of scholarly research? I’ve seen the movie Se7en before, but I don’t think I’ll draw from it very much except perhaps as a little wink-wink to the reader somehow. Muchas gracias for the feedback.
You had a lovely post the other day. Growth is always a good thing.
Mere Christianity is great. I’m not sure how much it will add to Mere Christianity, but The Great Divorce gives the perspective of sinners visiting heaven and the righteous in hell. That may be good for perspectivism. The Four Loves has a little bit on lust. Also, The Inferno is a great book for sin. Then there’s the Bible. I’m pretty sure some Greek guys wrote on different virtues, like I know Plato wrote on justice. I think Aristotle wrote on temperance. Hope those will help.