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Originally Posted by davem
They were innocent befoe Melkor's discord - which is not the same thing at all.
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I am not sure what notion of good and evil you apply here. If being good means using free will in accordance with the stated and perceived intent of Eru, then they were good; and if they had reason, then they were able to differentiate this from its opposite, which would constitute evil.
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Originally Posted by davem
they didn't know they were happy because they had no experience of unhappiness. They didn't know what harmony amazement or communion was either, never having known disharmony, bordom or isolation.
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These would be true if we assume that they cannot experience different degrees of these feelings, and thus unable to discerne, from relative difference between such degrees, their scale. The phrasing of the Ainulindale indicates otherwise. Although this announces to be an interesting speculation, I am not sure that we can apply human psychology to them. We are bound by our own human limitations; plus, I believe it is safe to assume that they experienced communion with Eru on various levels, and that they learned much through empathy from Him - not just from His music, or, later, from their actions.