Excerpt from The Problem of Evil: An Introduction to the Practical Sciences
The terms Evil and Good mark antithetical ideas which have maintained their opposition in all human thought and action. All experience manifests the distinction between the Good and the Bad, and hence all language, all literature, all science, and all action must recognise such a distinction. Speaking generally, without regard to philosophical exactitude, Good is that which is desired, and Evil that which is avoided. To the individual alone the Good is that which he aims to bring into his experience, conserve, and perpetuate; Evil, on the other hand, is that which he endeavours to cast out and keep out of his experience. In like manner to society the Good is that towards which effort is or ought to be directed to secure and preserve, while Evil is that which is or ought to be avoided and warded off. Good is to be sought, Evil is to be extirpated; Good we would retain for ever, Evil we would abolish entirely.
It is one of the purposes of this treatise to fix more exactly and accurately the meanings of Good and Evil, especially the latter term. The above remarks will, therefore, be sufficient provisionally, and will answer the end of directing the attention to the questions to be brought forward for consideration. Religiously considered, the Problem of Evil is the most perplexing and seemingly the most insoluble of any that pertain to theism. Given an omnipotent and benevolent Creator, how can it happen that there is evil at all in a universe of His creation? All sorts of solutions have been proposed, but none of them have been entirely satisfactory, and hence the question always presents itself anew.
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