The Bad and the Evil

The word "good" is sometimes contrasted with "evil" and at other times with "bad." I might ask you,
as I watch you sip a glass of wine, whether the wine is good. The negative answer would be, "no, quite
bad, vinegary even!"

Or I might ask you whether you think Donald Trump a good President. There the negative answer
could well be that you think him, and/or his presidency, and/or its existing or likely consequences, "evil."

Some writers have made heavy water out of this. They have said that the “good” in the phrase
“good versus evil” is a moral good whereas the “good” in the phrase “good or bad” is a non-moral good.

Thus, morality only deals with one particular sort of good out of the vast realm of possible goods,
it only deals with the contrast-to-evil sort of good.

I don’t propose to go down that route. Insofar as neurologically normal, full function adults are
concerned, my own view is that all good is moral good. The distinction between the merely “bad” and
the “evil” does not imply otherwise.

We often use “evil” as a simple intensifier for “bad,” like putting “very” or even a string of “very”s
in front of “bad.” If you did happen to say that the wine is "evil," this is what I would take you to mean.

At other times the word “evil” may be distinguished from “bad” chiefly because the term “evil” is more
likely to be used for a character flaw than “bad.” A character flaw -- a desire to destroy, or to laugh
at news of destruction -- may make one an enemy that those who would create and
maintain the good must defeat in that cause. Thus the word “bad” does not seem to suffice.

But there is nothing about the bad/evil contrast in customary usage that requires a parallel
distinction within the realm of the “good.”