I found a comment and it got me thinking...

I found this comment on a story that I was catching up on. I decided not to name his name in this blog unless I got an O.K.

“Life and death, good and evil, light and dark,
Let's start with the basics.
Evil is not an opposite-yet-equal force. Evil is the corruption of Good.
What you are proposing is a dualistic universe.... Good and Evil, equally balanced and in eternal opposition, opposite sides of the coin, both necessary for the cosmic balance, etc. This fails as even a mental exercise, as it de facto assumes that Good and Evil are part of a greater system.... a higher Order and Good against which they are measured and which dictates the rules of the cosmos. Second, if Good and Evil were equal, yet opposite, the choice between the two would be arbitrary, as they would both be equally effective--- yet this is empirically not so. Good and Evil people alike both seek happiness, contentment, functionality, a working universe. But Good accomplishes these things, while Evil fails at them abysmally. Honesty, kindness, generosity, and free trade produce prosperity and wellbeing; lying, cruelty, miserliness and thieving produce destruction. Evil in all its forms exists as a corruption of the good, just as darkness is merely an absence of the light. There can be no "balance" or "harmony" between good and evil anymore than there can be between a healthy body and a cancer.

I responded with this comment.

I am going to have to disagree with you on your concept of good and evil. While I see the world is far more of made of greys and rarely do any decisions boiled down to just good or evil and both are defined differently based on a number of factors for people such as sum people think it is wrong to eat animals while others think it is their God given right to do so, I be hypothetical and just focus on those two concepts at their most basic forms.
Good and Evil are made by different choices to achieve a goal. Good actions and choices are defined by the fact that they benefit others or in some way or prevent harm to others in some form whether it be financial, physical, emotion, or spiritual. Evil actions and choices are defined by the fact that they are made to benefit or protect one-self with disregard or willful ignorance for the consequences they have on others.
The main problem I have is that you insinuate that Good and Evil have are the source of happiness. Doing good doesn't not for certain make you happy and live a fulfilling life and neither does evil guarantee that you'll be miserable. It’s a sad truth and I wish it wasn't part of reality, but good people who do good things can easily live in the worst conditions and live a tragic life while people who do evil will benefit from their acts and are able to achieve and be happy and content.
I feel one of the best examples from fiction that embody this are Batman and Joker. Joker is a great example of ultimate and chaotic pure evil, he kills destroys, maims and tortures so that he can 'play' with the bat. He schemes might never succeed, but he is happy every time he gets to hurt someone and especially enjoys hurting others to get to the bat. The Joker finds fulfillment through his acts against humanity and is most content with his life when fighting Batman. Batman, a force of good, by contrast is miserable and haunted by the deaths of his parents. No matter how many people he saves, no matter how many criminals he brings to justice, he can never relinquish his mask, his only hope to find happiness.
While that is a fictional example, there are plenty of real life examples, such as people dying in the Middle East and third world countries, women and children that had no chance for happiness, while warlords and tyrants live big and boisterous lives. While I do wish that good would always win and good people are rewarded, while evil actions and evil people get punishment, that is not the case.
I wrote far too much already so I'll try to avoid continuing into another speech. What I am trying to say is that good and evil are opposite sides to a coin, two forks in the road. While I would love to live in the candy coated dream that you speak of, it is not and never has been the case.

While not the nicest comment, it got me thinking how philosophy can affect story-telling. How you feel on the subject of Good and Evil can change how you write and view your characters and how they react and achieve/fail their goals.

I am generally interested in what others have to say about the discussion, do you think this commenter is correct on Good and Evil or is my comment accurate if not sum-what harsh? Do you have completely opposite opinions or do you feel the need to expand on the idea here?
I would love to hear more ideas on the matter, please help start a discussion, get others to join in, I loved to hear new perspectives.