Understanding Mystical Experiences and the Nature of Good and Evil

Mystical Experience: Feeling the Believers in Direct Contact with Divinity

A mystical experience is an experience of spiritual union where the person feels a connection with God. To achieve this state of union between the human soul and divinity, the mystic uses a series of purification activities to become worthy of such a meeting. The mystical experience is difficult to communicate.

The Problem of Good and Evil

The problem of good and evil arises in the context of being, with abstract concepts derived from daily situations in very special circumstances: war and hunger, for example, in the case of evil, and love and friendship in the case of good.

The Nature of Good and Evil

Human actions can be categorized as good when they are pleasant and beautiful, while wicked actions are the opposite.

Realist Position

The philosophical tradition states that good is an existing situation to be identified, while bad is a serious denial of good and the absence of being. Plato argues that something is good if it aligns with an eternal reality. In contrast, the idea of evil cannot be an idea that is unknown.

Nominal Position

The contrary position denies the existence of good and evil as objective and independent realities. Those who identify the meaning of the adjective 'good' as a natural quality commit a naturalistic fallacy, confusing the essence of good with the effects produced in us.

Is the Existence of Evil Possible in the World?

Many thinkers who accept the existence of God face the problem of theodicy: how can an infinitely good and almighty being allow the existence of evil?

Arguments

• Necessary Evil for a Higher Good: Evil is inevitable in the pursuit of a greater good. Leibniz suggests that this world is the best of all possible worlds, but this cannot be achieved without the optimal cost of juvenile males.
• The Problem of Evil is Only Apparent: This view, held by the Stoics, posits that the evils we perceive are only for us, as our understanding cannot grasp that what appears to be bad is, in fact, a good for all.