From MSNBC:
Pope Francis, while on a plane from Asia to Rome last week, told reporters that he has problems with both candidates for U.S. president — he said they’re “both against life” and that Americans should vote for the person they believe to be the “lesser of two evils.”
The concept itself is ancient. Aristotle articulated it in 350 B.C.E., and philosopher Baruch Spinoza wrote about it in 1677. Even so, if most people don’t fully grasp the concept of “lesser of evils,” that’s likely because “the lesser of evils” is only half of the original concept. In short, the principle states that if given a choice, the lesser of evils and the greater good in both the long term and the short term should be chosen. The problem with the typical American’s understanding of the concept is that “the greater good” gets dropped off. Some may argue that considering the greater good is inherent in the lesser of evils, but the framework demands that people look at a situation from all perspectives. What are the lesser evil, the greater evil, the lesser good and the greater good now and in the long term?