Necessary evil - Wikipedia

A necessary evil is an evil that someone believes must be done or accepted because it is necessary to achieve a better outcome—especially because possible ... Necessaryevil FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch Forotheruses,seeNecessaryevil(disambiguation). Evilthatisbelievedmustbedoneoracceptedbecauseitisnecessarytoachieveabetteroutcome Anecessaryevilisanevilthatsomeonebelievesmustbedoneoracceptedbecauseitisnecessarytoachieveabetteroutcome—especiallybecausepossiblealternativecoursesofactionorinactionareexpectedtobeworse.Itisthe"lesserevil"inthelesseroftwoevilsprinciple,whichmaintainsthatgiventwobadchoices,theonethatisleastbadisthebetterchoice. Contents 1History 2Seealso 3References 4Sources History[edit] TheOxfordDictionaryofWordOriginsassertsthat"[t]heideaofanecessaryevilgoesbacktoGreek",describingthefirstnecessaryevilasmarriage,andfurtherstatingthat,"ThefirstexampleinEnglish,from1547,referstoawoman".[1]ThomasFuller,inhis1642work,TheHolyStateandtheProfaneState,madeanotheroftheearliestrecordedusesofthephrasewhenhedescribedthecourtjesterassomethingthat"...somecountanecessaryevilinaCourt".[2]InCommonSense,ThomasPainedescribedgovernmentasatbesta"necessaryevil".[3] Evilasaconceptisdefinedbythefactofactsdone,consideredtobecontrarytomorality,inotherwords,sinful,andtheexecutionofanyactbyanindividual,thedefiningvalueoftheact,isharmisdone(inanarchaicsense,thisindicatesactscausingrepulsionordiscomfort),[4]additionally,theactisclassifiedas,profoundlyimmoral.[5] Thisbeingtrue,theuseoftheterm"evil"inthephrasedoesnotnecessarilyindicatethatthethingbeingcharacterizedasa"necessaryevil"issomethingthatisgenerallyconsideredan"evil"inthesenseofbeingimmoralortheenemyofthegood.InFuller'suseofthephrase,forexample,thereisnoimplicationthatcourtjestersareevilpeople,orhavingoneservesanevilend.Thetermismosttypicallyusedtoidentifysomethingthatismerelyaninconvenienceorannoyance.Whereanauthorsuggeststhat"[p]aperworkisanecessaryevil,despisedbuthandledwiththeunderstandingthatamistake–evenatrivialone–couldbecostly".[6]Itisunderstoodthattheauthorisnotdeeming"paperwork"tobewicked,immoral,orevilinsensescomparabletothose.Somethinkersspecificallyrejecttheideaofanythingthatisactually"evil"beingnecessary.Thismaymanifestasanadmonitionformoralpeopletoavoidparticipatingintheactivitiesthatareperceivedasevil: Theconceptof"necessaryevil"isanideathatmustbethoroughlyrejected.Evilisnotnecessary,andtoacceptitassuchistoperpetuateit.Evilmustbeopposed,rejected,andavoidedatallcosts.Itshouldneverbeviewedassomethingthatwemustunavoidablyandinevitablyparticipatein.Wetrivializeevilwhenwerefertoitas"necessary".[7] Alternately,thismaymanifestasacalltoeliminatesystemsthatcontainaspectsperceivedasevil,andreplacethemwithsystemsthatavoidtheseaspects.Forexample,speakingofpoliticalpartiesintheParliamentoftheUnitedKingdom,oneauthorwrote: Tosayofanythingthatitisanecessaryevil(itisoftensaidofexaminations,asofparties)istogiveawayallmorality.Itisalmostacontradictioninterms.Thatwhichisnecessarycanhardlybeevil.Ifthatwhichisbadisunavoidable,thenthegameofmoralityisup.Weareinvolvedinaviciouscirclefromwhichthereisnoescapeexceptinthedenialofonepremiss[sic]oroftheother.Eitherthethingisnotnecessary,oritisnotevil.Anon-moralsystemmighthavenodifficultyinadmittingtheconceptionofanecessaryevil,butunfortunatelyitwouldalsoexcludetheconceptionofevilaltogether.Whatevermaybearguedphilosophicallyonthepoint,theideaofanecessaryevilisafallacyasurgedinexcuseofparty,forthosewhourgeitaresayingwhattheywoulddenyifexpressedinotherterms. Theywouldcertainlysaythatitwaswrongtochargeamanwithevilconductwhohaddoneonlywhatitwasimpossibleforhimtoavoiddoing.Inthatcasetheywouldsayitwasnotevil;itwasonlyunfortunateorsad.Forthesamereasonparty,ifnecessary,isnotevil.Buttheydonotwanttosaythat,fortheyareconvincedthatpartyisanevil.Thereforetheymusttakethealternativeandadmitthatitisnotnecessary;andtheirexcuseforpartyisgone.[8] ItalianphysicianFillipoMazzei,inhiscorrespondencewithThomasJeffersoninthe1770s,qualifiedanecessaryevilasarestrictionwithoutwhichevengreaterevilswouldarise: NecessaryEvilsarethosewhichcannotbeavoidedwithoutincurringgreater;AmongthenecessaryEvilsaretheLawsthemselves;becausetheyprohibitustodocertainthings,orobligeustodocertainothers;andconsequentlytheydepriveusofaPortionofLiberty,whichisthegreatestGood.ButwhatwouldbetheConsequenceifwehadnoLaws?[9] Seealso[edit] Lesseroftwoevilsprinciple References[edit] ^JuliaCresswell,OxfordDictionaryofWordOrigins(2010),p.156. ^ThomasFuller,TheHolyStateandtheProfaneState(1642),p.182. ^RichardVanIngram,PhilosophyandOtherBadHabits(2011),p.112. ^dictionarydefinitionMerriam-WebsterAccessedFebruary11,2018 ^dictionarydefinitionOxfordDictionariesAccessedFebruary11,2018 ^SimB.Sitkin,LauraB.Cardinal,KatinkaM.Bijlsma-Frankema,OrganizationalControl(2010),p.143. ^GebreMenfesKidus,MysteryandMeaning:ChristianPhilosophyandOrthodoxMeditations(2011),p.225. ^HaroldHodge,"ExParte"TheNineteenthCenturyandAfter(1924),Vol.95,p.205. ^PhilipMazzei,reportedinMargheritaMarchioneandStanleyJ.Idzerda,eds.,PhilipMazzei:SelectedWritingsandCorrespondence(1983),p.427. Sources[edit] dictionarydefinitionCambridgeDictionaryAccessedFebruary11,2018 Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Necessary_evil&oldid=1107956653" Categories:NecessityPhilosophicalproblemsConceptsinethicsGoodandevilHiddencategories:ArticleswithshortdescriptionShortdescriptionmatchesWikidata Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ArticleTalk English Views ReadEditViewhistory More Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationCitethispageWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Languages 한국어中文 Editlinks