April 18, 2024
Criteria of Evil
A crime (moral fault, offense, sin) signifies the violation of a norm. Since
norms change according to time and place, what is considered a fault at one time
and place may not be so in another. For example, sacrificing prisoners to the
gods was considered meritorious by the Aztecs. However, the Holocaust and the
death camps of the Khmer Rouge occurred in our era and therefore, by our
standards, are universally considered crimes.