Evil

There is no thing called evil which is not made up of smaller things. Evil, like everything else we have cognitive access to, is a compound product. It is the rot of giving and taking, it is sour resentment, the throwback of kindness and love, a delight in throwing back kindness and love. In the distribution of goods, there is only giving and taking. Evil is not something in itself, it is a relationship, it is a judgement upon that which is done by dividing and conjoining, by giving and taking. Good and evil are the judgement of division and joinery and, in experience, can guide the instruments of division and joinery.

Both giving and taking divide and conjoin. It is in their architecture. What is divided becomes an opposition. Good is that which separates from the rest in order to do me good, it enlarges me. Evil is that which does the same but does me no good, it diminishes me. Both require a world constituted as a cohesive and single entity which is then transformed. The world de- and reterritorialises on a local scale and the product of that process is judged, and in judgment transforms into good or evil. Both bring cohesion by the relation they establish in their judgment. Both divide by transforming an old relationship into a new one. Good and evil are local lords, local gods, spirits of a situation.

What is an evil person? An evil person is one who does evil. It does him good, or does it? No, I don’t think it does. It does him no good at al. It just feels good to get one’s revenge, it feels good to have others suffer when one feels resentful, for a while. It does not need to feel good. You can train yourself to overcome this naturalism. You can repress these animal urges. We have been given that power by evolution just as we have been given that tendency by evolution. To repress evil is as much natural as to live according to your instincts. To rejoice in evil is to diminish others and remain small yourself. Evil people are animals too. All animals need love and care.