Good and Evil
October 1, 2024 DOI: 10.4324/9781003581352-31 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the problem of evil is a special aspect of the general problem of duality, which the mind creates and which is only transcended in mystical consciousness. Proposes that theological postulation of God's goodness alone requires a Devil to account for evil. |
Abstract
The problem of Good and Evil—or, as it is more generally termed, the problem of Evil, as if Good were not just as much of a problem—is only a special aspect of the more general problem of duality , of the “pairs of opposites ” which the Mind constructs, and which the intellect obstinately refuses to overpass. It is part of the general problem of Reality and Appearance, or Being and Becoming, or Subject and Object, or Unity and Multiplicity, or Spirit and Matter which it is the very function of the Mind to create, and which is only transcended in the Mystical consciousness. In theology there is the added difficulty that personality and attributes of goodness only are postulated of God; and consequently a Devil has also to be postulated to account for the evil in the world.