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In today’s society, a place so varied where peoples' views and opinions contrast so greatly based on factors such as culture, religion, and political influence, there really can be no one definition for good and evil. Since one man's concept of evil can be totally paradoxical of another man's, one cannot discourse his notion of the subject without first defining it, based on the ideas of the society in which he was cultivated. One may define good, in general, as that which is to any useful end or purpose, that which is servicable, advantageous, or wholesome. Also, good is useful, proper or possessing desirable or valuable physical or moral qualities. To the average member of society, what is wholesome is that which is not injurious or damaging to himself or others. Based on today's standards, evil is defined as having bad qualities of a natural kind, having qualities which tend to injure, or to produce mischief, depravity or corruption of heart. Though these definitions are somewhat universal, depending on the morals and values of the individual, the concepts of good and evil may entail different elements. Considering the fact that Twentieth century North America is a monotheist-based, democratic society, examples of good are cleverness, kindness, and following the laws of society. Conversely, evil is the deliberate disobeyance of the laws, hate, and injurious actions.
The teachings of concepts of good and evil by the ancient philosophers, such as Plato and Socrates, are timeless and are relevant to virtually any society, in that they were well-defined, meticulously reflected theories. While some of the original ideas of these philosophers have changed over the centuries, it is mostly the context in which they were articulated, rather than their basic philosophies that have transformed to suit present society. In ancient Greek philosophy, Socrates believed that knowledge was the highest form of good attainable to man. He believed "if one knows what is right, he will do it --- no man is voluntarily bad". Socrates' standpoint on good was that a wholesome life was to be led always trying to discover what is good. Plato taught that the highest good for man was reason. He believed that "A man is living a good life when reason rules the will and the appetites, and when, as a result, he is wise, brave, and temperate". It is the latter philosophy of good taught by Plato which seems more pertinent to today's society as a whole. Although we do still have a thirst to gain knowledge and understanding, we do not tend to judge our self-worth and goodness as a person on the basis of finding it. Rather, we visualize ourselves walking a thin line; it is this reasoning which is our ability to choose between what we desire and what we know is right, and it is this keen sense of reasoning which is the highest form of good today.
In today's culture, although the basic notion of good and evil are that of self-control and sensibility opposite deliberate, injurious behaviour, one must remain conscious of the fact that this concept is very broad and diverse and allows much discrepancy as to its definition. Thus, Good and Evil are not concepts which can be easily generalized, for we may find ourselves constantly questioning one's self, "This is good-- according to whom??" Nonetheless, in our daily lives, we do fall back upon the philosophies and teachings of the ancient philosophers more than would be expected, and as we have discovered, even today, we mostly rely on the ancient philosphies adapted to suit society's present setting.
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