Who would have fallen?

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mister Underhill

Is this the point?

I suppose the point that davem is making is that something cannot be evil if it is not sentient. Not least because a non-sentient "being" has no will and cannot therefore make a choice for itself between good and evil.

The way I see it, the Ring is able to influence its surroundings and adapt itself to its environment in order to achieve its goal of returning to its master. But it does not do so in a logical, coherent, intelligent manner. It is acting out of instinct, if you like. And the "instinct" can be described as evil because the one who instilled it with such "instinct" was evil.