Who defines good and evil?
We all know that killing other man or steal from him is wrong. We are taught like this from the beginning of our lives, we have sets of laws to remind os of that, which if we don't obey we will go to prisons. We have religions which also tells us what is wrong and what is not and then promise us heaven if we obey or hell if we dont.
But yet when men go to war, then can kill in single day, thousands of ther man. No one speaks of eternal punishment or confrontation with the law. War is war. Well what about when a man is hungry?
Isn't he conducting war against his misfortune? If any of us saw a starving man trying to steal a loath of bread, I bet wouldn't think that was evil. We might help him ourselves ( provided we have no means to help him otherwise ).
But what if he isn't really starving? But just very very hungry and has a long way back home? Well, most of us still wouldn't think of that action as evil, maybe not good or wrong. Do you see my point now? The big question is?
Where is this point when your actions turn from neutral, to wrong, to bad, to evil?
The answer to this question is morality. Morality is something personal which can vary from person to person. It's up to you to decide what is really evil or not, and even though we might agree 98% of time, we still won't be the same. Because of that we should not conclude that religious, lawful punishments are based on morality.
Punishment by the law is nothing less, nothing more. Law is not a system to decide who is evil or not, it's a system of punishment to serve a purpose to society as a whole. System where majority is to benefit, not the minority.
So the point to my post is
Always be your own judge of character. Don't let other people decide what your behaviour is like. Your morality is only yours and no one's else. You are free to make your own life choices - but remember, there might be repercussions! Here is a nice quote for you from Konrad Lorenz,
I think personality traits also contribute to an individuals perception of good and evil. People who lack empathy wouldn't see evil in the same way as someone who has lots.
In my opinion it's not about good or evil, those are indeed subjective. If you look into it from another perspective there are two ways: the easy and the hard. The every day and never ending struggle is only in our heads.
Also try searching for René Descartes and John Locke. Their research on the subject is quite thorough.