Abstract
In this article I seek a more complete understanding of evil action. To this end, in
the first half of the article I assess the conceptual strengths and weaknesses of the
most compelling theories of evil action found in the contemporary philosophical
literature. I conclude that the theories that fall under the category I call ‘‘Nuanced
Harm Accounts’’ successfully identify the necessary and sufficient conditions of the
concept. However, necessary and sufficient conditions are not coextensive with
significant features, and Nuanced Harm Accounts are incomplete even if they are
correct. In order to supplement them, in the second half of the article I examine the
normative relation that obtains between perpetrators and victims of evil and find
them to be parties to a relation of asymmetrical power in which the vulnerability of
the weaker party is exploited by the stronger party for its advantage, pleasure, or
otherwise to achieve its aims. Moreover, the parties in the relation reciprocally
enable each other’s role relative to one another. The strength of the more powerful
party emerges out of the states of vulnerability of the victims, and the victims are
vulnerable relative to the power(s) of the perpetrator.