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Blackburn's definition
'Prima facie (right, obligation)'. (301). From the Latin defined as on first appearance.
This was a term that I came across within thousands of pages of theology and philosophy of religion in regards to the problem (s) of evil and theodicy.
An admittedly, very non-exhaustive, 'street take' I put on the term, for memory, at that time, was 'in the face'.
Blackburn explains that David Ross (1877-1940) used prima facie meaning 'genuine obligations that may yet have to contend with others, and sometimes yield to them'. (301). The example is given that an appointment should be kept but may be missed due to an emergency. (301).
Blackburn explained...the difficulty for a deontological ethic (ethics based on duty or what is right page 100) is to rank prima facie obligations. (301).
(Note this opposed to more pragmatic results with consequential/consequentialism approaches)
What is evil based on first appearance? What is evil that is actually in the face?
(Non-exhaustive examples)
The biblical Christian could state, abortion on demand, and the secular humanist could state pro-life philosophy. The biblical Christian could state, humanities rejection of the biblical God, while the secular humanist could state it is all religion.
Seems to me reading through thousands of pages of theology and philosophy of religion texts, within mainly both Christian and secular worldviews, there was and is plenty of room for debating what was and is actually prima facie, prima facie evil (s) and prima facie gratuitous evil (s); and with some level of agreement, how these should be ranked.
