The concept of evil is hard to define with precision. Ethical arguments swing back and forth. Consensus is elusive. What seems right in one context appears wrong in another.

Most of the time, loopholes are available. Two schools of ethical thought prevail as polar opposites, each with its flaws. Kant’s duty-based perspective asserts that some actions are evil in themselves, regardless of consequences. Mill and Bentham give utilitarian dissent, claiming that the ethical imperative is to foster the greatest good for the greatest number, that the end justifies the means, and it is the outcome that matters.