Malice is a psychological and legal concept denoting the intention to cause harm to another. 📝Merriam-Webster defines it as "desire to cause pain, injury, or distress to another." In philosophy and psychology, malice is identified as a distinguishing feature of evil action — a deliberate ill will directed at another, not incidentally harmful but oriented toward harm as an end in itself.
In law, malice operates differently across criminal and civil contexts. Criminal law requires malice aforethought for first-degree murder — an intentional, unlawful act committed without justification or excuse. Civil law, particularly in defamation cases, recognizes actual malice (reckless disregard for truth or knowledge of falsity). The key distinction from mere intent is that intent can be benign or harmful; malice specifically denotes harmful motivation as the animating force.
Philosophically, some scholars describe malice as the denial of the unique self-encounter — it hides behind legitimate causes rather than standing in honest relation to its own impulses. This distinguishes it from conflict, disagreement, or even hatred: malice seeks annihilation of the other, not just opposition.