What makes a character evil and when is that evil redeemable?

[crbrearley]

It's a complicated thought without any easy answers. But I was just wondering considering the nature of all those factors, what is good and what is evil. Are either absolute? How can they vary and how might a character transition to evil or to good credibly and what might be a point past redemption or past corruption?

I'm not personally excited by the relative morality takes--I've never found that philosophy a great position. "Oh, the Nazis feel the Jews are evil, so it's OK, carry on your genocide." Mind you, the best philosophy may have to offer is "pain good, pleasure bad." So maybe that's not such a big help either. Personally I'd take something along the lines of Kant and just admit it will break down if you attack it with very detailed logic, but it's probably good enough for everyday life. Hell, we couldn't prove 1+1=2 philosophically.


MajorKerina, I think you should go ahead and write your story. Let your readers sort out the morality. If you want to voice your opinion without intruding on your readers, maybe have a character that does that. You're a lot more interested in this subject than I am but it's a much more important subject than the fantasy adventure stories I write. So I wish you all success.