more from Augustine

Single Idea 19338

[catalogued under 29. Religion / D. Religious Issues / 3. Problem of Evil / b. Human Evil]

Full Idea

Augustine solution to the problem of evil was to say that, strictly speaking, evil does not exist. Human beings are not part evil and part good, but rather just a limited amount of goodness.

Gist of Idea

Augustine said evil does not really exist, and evil is a limitation in goodness

Source

report of Augustine (works [c.415]) by Franklin Perkins - Leibniz: Guide for the Perplexed 2.III

Book Reference

Perkins,Franklin: 'Leibniz: Guide for the Perplexed' [Continuum 2007], p.44


A Reaction

Augustine was rebelling against Manicheanism, which he espoused when young, which proposed a good and an evil force. An apathetic slob seems devoid of goodness, but is not evil. It takes extra effort to perform active evil.