Is Evil Necessary for Goodness to Exist?

Last week, I went in for a medical check-up. I was having rashes all over my body and I was worried about what they might mean. A day after my blood work, the results came in, and I was shocked to see them.

It was unbelievable. The report showed something so unusual that I couldn’t believe it.

I couldn’t eat, sleep, or think of anything else. So, I went in for a repeat blood work.

Couple days later, I went to the doctor with both the reports. She looked at them carefully and said candidly “Everything is fine. Nothing to worry. The first report was an anomaly”

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

Nothing had weighed so heavily on me and I suddenly felt extremely light… as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from my body.

When I stepped out of the hospital, everything felt different. Nothing had changed, and yet everything felt different.

The weather was still the same, traffic was still annoying, and there were still people yelling on the phone. Maybe for a brief moment, but my perspective towards ordinary life had changed.

I was finally a part of this living world again, and it hadn’t felt so much complete before.

Later that night, I wondered if I had to go through this ordeal to realize that the things I otherwise ignore or hate are actually something that complete my life?

Essentially, is evil necessary to value goodness?

Is suffering necessary to value peace?

When I spoke about this with my friends, we had a long debate. Both sides of the argument were equally convincing and yet it felt like we are just talking in circles.

• Do we need disrespect to understand the importance of respect? Probably not.
• Do we need to taste bad food to understand the value of good food? Probably not.

But… do we need fear for courage to exist? Probably yes.

Do we need dishonesty for honesty to have meaning? Probably yes.

So, maybe the answer to this question isn’t a binary yes or no. It’s much more nuanced.

A. Contrast dependent values

There are some virtues that need contrast for them to exist. These virtues cannot exist independently, and if they did it may not have the value that we have for them today.

Courage is one of them. It exists only because fear is prevalent. Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it is moving forward despite that fear.

Stage fright is a common fear amongst people. People are often afraid of failing in front of others, get conscious of themselves, and are scared of being judged. So, when someone gets on stage, absorbs that fear, and performs anyway — we call it courage.

We value it because somewhere within us we know what the person had to overcome.

If not for this fear, public speaking would’ve been the same like singing in the shower.

The same logic can apply to honesty. Imagine a world where nobody ever lied. Would honesty still be a virtue anymore? 

It would simply be a way of life. Just like gravity.

If gravity worked only for some people, we would’ve treated it as something special. Only that it doesn’t.

Courage matters because fear exists. Honesty matters because dishonesty exists.

B. Contrast enhanced values

But then there are things that don’t require an opposite to exist. Virtues that can exist independently but having a contrast helps us appreciate and acknowledge them more.

Having a steady job, a loving family, or good health can sometimes feel ordinary. It is only when those things are missing or taken away that we suddenly realize how much they meant to us.

Yes, the world doesn’t need war and suffering to understand peace and happiness. However, it is only in times like these that we start to really appreciate the value of peace and happiness. We create world orders and systems to ensure war and suffering do not happen again.

While suffering doesn’t need to exist for us to appreciate peace, it does make us more empathetic and protective of it.

• A person who has experienced loss may become more sensitive to someone else’s grief.
• A person who has experienced loneliness may recognize it more easily in others.
• A person who has been sick may appreciate an ordinary day of good health.

The absence of something can sometimes make its presence visible.

Sometimes, evil merely creates situations in which certain kinds of goodness can reveal themselves. And sometimes, some kinds of goodness need contrast.

Perhaps the better question to ask ourselves is can we recognize goodness in our life today without having to risk it?