Reflection and Research Essay on Augustine: Saint Augustine on Evil Research Paper

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Origin of Evil



The origin of evil has been a controversial issue not only in the contemporary Christian circles but also among the ancient Greek Christians. The point of contention in the discussion about the origin of evil is why a good God would have created evil. The Judeo-Christians struggled to understand how a good, powerful, and all-knowing God could allow evil to exist. The logical conclusions were that either God did not exist or God was not good[footnoteRef:1]. However, Augustine sought to clarify this erroneous notion about the existence of God. Saint Augustine believed that the discussion on the origin of evil and whether a good God has a role in its creation and existence must first begin with the understanding of evil and God. He explained that if evil was not necessarily a thing, then it may not have been created although it negates the notion that God created evil[footnoteRef:2]. Secondly, he took the approach of finding out whether there are convincing reasons that indicate both the existence of God and his goodness. [1: Eggen, Wiel. "Probing the Depths of Evil and Good. Multireligious Views and Case Studies Wrestling with God and with Evil. Philosophical Reflections." Exchange 37, no. 2 (2008): 228-31.] [2: Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.]



Saint Augustine deduced that a good God would not have necessarily created evil. He argued that all things that good created be good. However, evil by its very nature is not good. Therefore, God could not have created evil. His philosophy fronts the idea that evil was created by the existence of free will. This free will allows people to choose the lesser good and hence result in evil[footnoteRef:3]. [3: Nash-Marshall, Siobhan. "Free Will, Evil, and Saint Augustine." Quaestiones Disputatae 6, no. 1 (2015): 43-57.]



As a student of philosophy, I have equally considered the question of the origin of evil. In my evaluation, evil could have largely originated from lack of knowledge about the impact of people’s action on themselves and others. People propagate evil due to lack of knowledge about its effects on the people around them. Therefore, people are educated and equipped with the knowledge to understand the devastating effect of their evil actions; they begin to change and act in a way that is rational. One of the greatest philosophers of his time, Plato equally explained the origin of evil. Plato believed that evil came into existence due to ignorance of people. He advocated for the avoidance of evil because it would make people happy. He advised people to rid themselves of ignorance and hence avoid evil[footnoteRef:4]. Therefore, the lack of knowledge is a central cause of the existence of evil within the society. [4: Seibt, Christopher R. "Evil And The Human Will: An Examination Of Plato And Aristotle On Whether Human Beings Knowingly Will Evil." Journal of Philosophy of Evil, fourth ser., 2 (2012): 114-27.]



This philosophical approach in answering the question of the origin of evil is similar to Saint Augustine’s model in several ways. For instance, it acknowledges the fact that people choose evil acts depending on what they know or what they do not know. The ability to choose whether based on knowledge or ignorance constitutes the concept of free will. Therefore, free will is a concept that is central to the explanation of the existence of evil from both philosophical approaches described above and hence constitutes the similarity between the two approaches[footnoteRef:5]. However, the fundamental difference between the two philosophical approaches in explaining the origin of evil and good is that Saint Augustine’s explanation only begins at free will as a major factor that led to the existence of evil. However, he does not go further to establish the very root cause of free will. For instance, he does not address the factors that inform the choices that people make concerning their free will. [5: Hoppe, Andreas. "Twist to Evil-An Introduction to Different Views on Catastrophes." Catastrophes, 2015, 1-14.]



In contrast, the philosophical theory on the origin of evil I have outlined acknowledges that other factors inform the choices of people in their free will[footnoteRef:6]. Free will is not entirely free since it is influenced by a combination of other factors. The most fundamental factor that affects choices in free will relates to knowledge. People make choices depending on what they know or what they do not know[footnoteRef:7]. Therefore, knowledge is a factor that drives the choice of good or evil in free will. [6: Melchert, Norman.

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The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.] [7: Svendsen, Lars Fredrik Ha?ndle. A philosophy of evil. Champaign, Ill: Dalkey Archive Press, 2010.]



The philosophical views that I have highlighted support Saint Augustine on the origin of evil in different ways. First, it agrees with the fact that people have a choice to make about evil and good. Saint Augustine acknowledges that people make choices concerning good or evil. Similarly, I acknowledge that the existence of evil and good is closely connected to the choices that people make. Secondly, the two philosophical views agree on the fact that the choices on whether or not to do evil largely depend on the free will of the people. People who choose evil are not coerced to choose such evil under any circumstance. However, they do so out of their own will and conscience. Thirdly, the philosophical explanation for the existence of evil largely compliments Saint Augustine’s views on the origin of evil[footnoteRef:8]. In essence, explains how knowledge and ignorance influence the choices that people make in free will. Therefore, choices in the free will of individuals are equally informed by several other factors. However, ignorance is the main factor that influences the choice of evil acts. [8: Howard-Snyder, Daniel. "The Logical Problem of Evil: Mackie and Plantinga." The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil, 2014, 19-33.]

Nature and Existence of Evil



Evil is often exhibited in two forms. The first form of evil is natural. The natural forms of evil constitute all forms of evils that are caused by natural calamities such as flooding, earthquakes, diseases, and famine among others[footnoteRef:9]. The second form of evil is one that is caused by human actions. These constitute all actions of individuals that may cause pain and suffering to other people. [9: Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.]



The nature of evil can be explained by the nature of the mind. People’s mind is often preoccupied with a lustful appetite to do evil. Therefore, evil is a state of the mind of people. When an individual is preoccupied with thoughts of his selfish ambitions and is hence determined to achieve such ambitions through any action regardless of its impact to injure another person, then such selfish ambitions become evil[footnoteRef:10]. Therefore, the evilness of an action is characterized by the intentions of such actions as well as the disregard of the potential pain and injury that such an action is likely to cause. [10: Nash-Marshall, Siobhan. "Free Will, Evil, and Saint Augustine." Quaestiones Disputatae 6, no. 1 (2015): 43-57.]



Plato equally tried to explain the nature of evil from a similar point. He believed that the mind of an individual is divided into three parts. These include the will, the reason, and the appetite[footnoteRef:11]. The will constitutes the emotions, spirit, and passion. The appetite is the physical argue people. The reason includes the knowledge and rational that informs choices. From Plato’s perspective, evil only happens when an individual’s mind is preoccupied with a lustful appetite that drives their actions. Plato argued that, when an individual’s mind is alienated from reason and logic, that individual is prone to act according to his lustful appetite of mind and hence execute what is evil. On the contrary, when an individual’s mind is preoccupied with reason and logic, the individual is largely moved to act in a way that propagates goodness[footnoteRef:12]. Therefore, Plato’s main explanation of the nature of evil is that it depends on the person’s mind and their implementation of their ideas. [11: Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.] [12: Seibt, Christopher R. "Evil And The Human Will: An Examination Of Plato And Aristotle On Whether Human Beings Knowingly Will Evil." Journal of Philosophy of Evil, fourth ser., 2 (2012): 114-27.]



Conversely, Saint Augustine’s view of evil is centered on being. In his philosophy, everything that is considered as being can only be good because God is the origin of being and state courtesy of his creation. Since God is good in himself and his state of being, it follows that all things are equally good. Therefore, Saint Augustine argues that evil cannot be a being in itself but rather an absence of good.….....

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Bibliography

Eggen, Wiel. "Probing the Depths of Evil and Good. Multireligious Views and Case Studies Wrestling with God and with Evil. Philosophical Reflections." Exchange 37, no. 2 (2008): 228-31.

Hector, Kevin W. "Friedrich Schleiermacher." Oxford Handbooks of Philosophy, 2017, 223-35.

Hoppe, Andreas. "Twist to Evil-An Introduction to Different Views on Catastrophes." Catastrophes, 2015, 1-14.

Howard-Snyder, Daniel. "The Logical Problem of Evil: Mackie and Plantinga." The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil, 2014, 19-33.

Melchert, Norman. The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Nash-Marshall, Siobhan. "Free Will, Evil, and Saint Augustine." Quaestiones Disputatae 6, no. 1 (2015): 43-57.

Seibt, Christopher R. "Evil And The Human, Will: An Examination Of Plato And Aristotle On Whether Human Beings Knowingly

Will Evil." Journal of Philosophy of Evil, fourth ser., 2 (2012): 114-27.

Svendsen, Lars Fredrik Ha?ndle. A philosophy of evil. Champaign, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 2010.

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