Evil

From Issuepedia

[edit] About

Evil, in the moral/ethical sense of the word, is officially defined as "intending harm" (Wiktionary), "morally reprehensible", or "causing harm" (M-W).

Issuepedia defines evil as "doing harmful things deliberately", especially where such acts are beneficial to the actor.

[edit] evil with good intentions

In situations where harm is done deliberately in the hope of achieving overall benefit, the resulting gray area can be resolved by answering the following questions:

• Did the actor make a reasonable attempt to find less-harmful alternatives?
• Did the actor examine all available alternatives before choosing?
• Did the actor attempt to consult those who would be harmed by the choice s/he finally made (or advocates thereof)?
• Did the actor document the reasons for that final choice, and adequately explain why it was the best of the available choices?
• Did the actor attempt to answer any objections raised before making her/his decision?
• In the event that any of the above questions cannot be answered "yes", is there a good reason for this?