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The way I read Tolkien's works is that there is the possibility for evil in all of us. i.e. Evil is inherent in eveyone and everything. It is in our day to day actions that we sweep aside our temptation to fall into this evil. In the Christian Faith, even Satan was once an Angel, who finally sucumbed to Evil.
I see this view of 'inherent evil' most clearly in the Silmarillion. I think that Elves are, at times, a vindictive, nasty, zealous race of beings, not as a group of higher, more morally correct people (Angelic if you want) as I saw them before I read the Silmarillion.
After reading the book, I realised that they are no worse or better than any other race on Middle-earth, and are supceptible to Evil along with everyone else.
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