“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." ("The Lord of the Rings" J.J.R. Tolkien) - Can we overcome evil with good?

Agnieszka Grochowska - 13.11.2018 @ 15:25

This is my opinion on this topic

Good vs. Evil: Can someone win?

by Mirjam Kronthaler, BG – BRG Kufstein / Austria

Is it possible to overcome “evil” with “good”?

To overcome bad aspects with good aspects would imply that those good aspects would gain enough strength to surmount and in the end completely annihilate the bad ones. But it is basically impossible to absolutely wipe out all bad aspects, because “good” and “bad” need each other: they define one another. We can`t declare something as “good” before even knowing what “evil” means. If we only knew “good”, we would sooner or later forget what “good” means. We wouldn`t see it as “good” anymore, but simply as something existent. The next problem lies with the nonexistence of something “absolutely good” or “completely bad”. For example, let`s take a look at the substance CO2, commonly known as a pollutant and as dangerous for the environment: On the one hand, huge amounts of the matter contaminate the air we breathe and our atmosphere. On the other hand, plants need carbon dioxide for the process of photosynthesis, by which they not only nurture themselves but also produce our breathable air. Therefore CO2 is not a bad substance per se, but the amount of it that we spread about into the atmosphere is what makes the difference.

Drawing: M. Kronthaler

Mirjam Kronthaler - 14.11.2018 @ 12:19

Thanks for sharing your opinion with us, Mirjam! I generally agree with your thoughts about the "bad" and "good" aspects of reality, namely - how overusing one of them can lead to decay of it's value, and how they react to each other and exist in harmony just like yin and yang.

Nevertheless,  I have to point out one thing - we can't equate "bad" and "evil", because evil is associated with human nature, while bad is a wide term used for describing situations, nature etc.

J.R.R Tolkien's quote refers exclusively to human morality. Honestly, I believe that every one of us can be good through the entire life. However, it's important to remember that being "too good" can lead us to losing the meaning of "evil" and thus our glourious deeds can quickly turn against us. Being good "just a little" - a few small acts of kindness and love every day - will make us morally good and we will still be able to perceive evil. That's how we can overcome evil in our everyday life.

Jakub Fenert - 02.01.2019 @ 16:23

Hi Mirjam!

When I saw the main question: ‘’Can we overcome evil with good?” I thought that it’s really hard to unambiguously decide. Your article gave me a new point of view. Your main conclusion- we always should judge something, taking into account good and bad sides- in my opinion, is absolutely correct. Sometimes we perceive something as good or bad and usually it is hard to change our mind. But what with things we aren’t sure about? As you said, everything contains good and bad sides, but what if we still don’t know if it’s good or bad? You said something “totally good” doesn’t exist. So, back to the main topic, if something isn’t good but it also isn’t bad, should we overcome it? I think the answer is no because I agree that, as you said, it can’t be done in general and we need evil to appreciate good.

Thank you for this article, because in my opinion it contains a lot of valuable conclusions and gave me food for thought.

Pola Palonek - 03.01.2019 @ 21:21

Hello Mirjam,

I really like your thoughts about „good“ and „evil“. You described the situation very good.

You explained, that without anything bad, there wouldn’t be a definition of the word „good“. I also agree with you in that point. I think the world would be very different if there was no difference between these two terms. On one side it maybe would be a little bit better, because there wouldn‘t be any bad things anymore, but on the other side everything we know as good would not be special anymore. I guess the two sides of „good“ and „evil“ are definitely supposed to exist simultaneously.

Johanna Holaubek - 07.02.2019 @ 14:18

Hi Mirjam,

I absolutely agree with your opinion of "good" and "evil". You said they both need each other and I think that's true. Without "evil" there wouldn't be such a thing as "good". It's just like Yin and Yang. They can't exist without the other.

But what is "good" or "evil"? For everyone these two terms are something different. Therefore "good" and "evil" people exist. They just have other points of view.

In my opinion nothing is purely "good" or "evil". In every "good" thing is something "evil" and in every "evil" thing is something "good". Nothing is just black or white, "good" or "evil". Sometimes it's just something grey in between.

Leonie Reiter - 10.02.2019 @ 12:01

Hello Mirjam,

I liked your article, it was quite interesting. I completely agree with your view on 'bad and good'.

I think the most important aspect about this topic is that there will never be a generalized definition of good and bad or evil. Because every human-beeing has its own mind and opinions. Some people get a definition of what's good and bad from their religion, some people comply with the definition of good and bad from the law. But there will never be a prefiguration with the magnitude to define every good and bad thing. Most of the time, we are the ones who have decide for ourselves. We have to figure out for ourselves what we think about something.

And all of that shows us that 'good and bad/evil' is an individual interpreted term and that it can't not exsist.

Yara Krismer - 25.02.2019 @ 21:52

Hey Mirjam!

Thank you very much for your article! I think you did a very well job in summing up and explaining your point of view.

I absolutely agree with you. As you mentioned: There is no good without evil and vice versa. And as already others have added, this also means that nothing is purely evil or purely good. Of course the classification is totally subjective since everyone has their own values and beliefs.

Nazli Yüksek - 25.02.2019 @ 22:41