Jordan Peterson’s Deep Definition

Jordan Peterson doesn’t define evil with a single dictionary-style sentence. Instead, he builds a complex picture across his lectures and books—especially Maps of Meaning and 12 Rules for Life. His view of evil is psychological, moral, existential—and personal.

At its core, Peterson sees evil as this:

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🔥 Peterson’s Core View of Evil

Evil is the conscious, malevolent infliction of suffering—especially for its own sake.

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✍️ Expanded Definition

Evil is knowing that what you’re doing is wrong, knowing it will cause unnecessary suffering, and choosing to do it anyway—often because it causes suffering. It’s the willful use of your voice, choices, and actions to distort truth, destroy meaning, and harm others—especially the innocent.

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🔎 Four Key Ideas from Peterson’s Understanding of Evil

1. Voluntary Infliction of Unnecessary Suffering

“Evil is the production of suffering for its own sake.”

This includes torture, cruelty, totalitarian violence, and abuse. Peterson often draws on real historical examples—like Auschwitz, the Soviet Gulags, or Columbine—to show how evil grows from resentment, envy, and self-deception.

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2. The Lie Is the Path to Evil

Peterson believes evil is rooted in deception—especially self-deception.

“When you betray yourself, when you say untrue things, when you act out a lie, you weaken your character. You move away from God.”

When people lie about what they’re doing—and why—they become corrupted. The lie, repeated often enough, becomes a foundation for deeper harm.

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3. Resentment, Envy, and the Rejection of Responsibility

Peterson often links evil to resentment toward being itself—a deep bitterness about life’s unfairness, combined with a desire to strike back.

This is why he emphasizes personal responsibility. Choosing meaning over resentment is, for Peterson, a way to resist the seeds of evil within ourselves.

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4. Auschwitz as the Ultimate Symbol of Evil

Peterson frequently returns to the Holocaust as the darkest manifestation of human evil. What happened there wasn’t accidental. It was planned, intentional, and often joyfully committed.

“You have to understand the Holocaust if you want to understand yourself.”

The worst atrocities were committed not by monsters, but by ordinary people—step by step, decision by decision.

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🧭 A Moral Compass: Evil Is in Us, Not Just “Out There”

Peterson’s warning is not about abstract philosophy—it’s about confronting our own potential for evil.

He often quotes Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote:

“The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”

Evil isn’t just something others do. It’s something any of us could do, if we let resentment, deceit, and self-betrayal take root.

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👣 Final Thought

Peterson doesn’t just ask us to “not be evil.”
He asks us to take up the burden of truth, meaning, and responsibility—to resist evil by choosing to live honestly, act justly, and carry what is ours to carry.

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💬 What Do You Think?

Have you seen this kind of evil—or its beginnings—in everyday life?
Do you agree with Peterson’s take?
Leave a comment below—I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Developed with assistance of ChatGPT