The Purpose of Evil

Many philosophers have tried to explain the purpose of evil. I have read their explanations and disagree with most of them.

I believe that the purpose of evil is to motivate us to become good. And without evil there is no motivation to do good.

For example, take the story of the Garden of Eden in the Old Testament. Before evil arrived in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lounged around naked all day long accomplishing nothing.

But after evil arrived as a talking snake, causing Adam and Eve to be thrown out of the Garden of Eden, Adam started working hard toiling in the fields and Eve started working hard rearing her children.

Another example, though based on a comic book, is the story of Batman. Batman was an almost supernatural force of good. He was a crime-fighting genius who had the physical strength of ten men, and the fighting skills of Bruce Lee.

But what motivated him to become Batman was the brutal murder of both his parents. Without the brutal murder of his parents, he would have never became Batman.

So for good to exist, evil must exist. The purpose of evil is to create good.