Final answer:
The primary contemplation regarding phenomenally evil individuals is whether they lack empathy. This ethical query ties into notions of conscience, virtue ethics, sympathetic reactions, and theological implications, as well as the Problem of Evil and its relation to the concept of a Supreme Being.
Step-by-step explanation:
The main question an individual contemplates regarding people deemed phenomenally evil is d) Whether they lack empathy. This question falls under the realm of philosophy, particularly in the branch known as ethics, which explores the nature of morality and the moral decisions that individuals make.
One approach to understanding the basis of morality is to investigate whether it originates in the self, through an individual's conscience, and inner sense of right and wrong. Socrates suggests that wrongdoers may not inherently perceive their actions as evil but rather as beneficial for themselves. This indicates a possible lack of empathy or an inability to fully comprehend the implications of their actions on others. Further inquiry into the subject includes exploring the motivations behind moral behavior, whether driven by rationality, society, politics, law, or theological concerns such as an afterlife or divine judgment.
While virtue ethics focuses on the exhibition of moral virtues, Carol Gilligan highlighted the potential oversight of sympathetic reactions to moral situations in earlier research into morality. Additionally, the Problem of Evil debates whether the conception of a Supreme Being is consistent with the existence of moral evil, implying an exploration into the nature of evil and good itself, which are often perceived as abstract human constructs.