CO MYŚLIMY, MÓWIĄC O WYBORZE „MNIEJSZEGO ZŁA”?
What We Think While Talking About the Choice of ‘Less Evil’

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is the notion of ‘mniejsze zło’ (‘less evil’). The phrase is presented only in the most recent Polish dictionaries, defining it similarly to ‘the necessary evil’ (malum necessarium): ‘it is something bad, that we choose consciously, or agree to, in order to avoid something worse’. Nowadays, it is mainly associated with the marshal law (1980s), though it is not mentioned in dictionaries. In the first part, the author attempts to explain the cognitive mechanism of gradation, used in the expression. Gradation usually occurs when the viewer is able to notice two physical objects of the same kind A and B, though different in size (smaller and bigger) and we can formulate judgments like: ‘A is bigger than B’; ‘B is smaller than A’. Apparently, gradation ability may be excellently used in metaphorical projection concerning ‘moral choice’ between smaller and bigger evil. In the latter part of the article, the author points out that, apart from descriptive character of the phrase, though extremely handy in a philosophical and ethical discourse, there is a danger of using it for relativisation of moral evil.

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