Search results
The absence of good (Latin: privatio boni), also known as the privation theory of evil, [1] is a theological and philosophical doctrine that evil, unlike good, is insubstantial, so that thinking of it as an entity is misleading. Instead, evil is rather the absence, or lack ("privation"), of good.
Oct 7, 2023 · In this view, evil is not merely the absence of good, but a force that actively opposes and subverts goodness. Proponents of this theory claim that evil has its own motivations and intentions, capable of perpetuating itself without the presence of good.
Dec 11, 2023 · Aquinas defines evil as a privation of good rather than a substantive entity. He distinguishes between physical (natural) evil and moral evil, attributing the latter to human free will and the former to natural defects or absences.
Sep 20, 2017 · In the neo-Platonic tradition, from Plato, through Plotinus, and from there integrated into mainstream Christian and Islamic theology, good is the only true reality, and evil is just the absence of good, just as darkness is the absence of light, and cold is the absence of heat.
Aug 19, 2023 · Augustine’s association of all goodness with God carries significant implications for understanding evil, which he sees not as a substance but a deprivation or absence of good. The existence of evil, then, is not a contradiction to a benevolent God but a departure from the intended goodness.
Paul Elmer More says that, to Plato, evil resulted from the human failure to pay sufficient attention to finding and doing good: evil is an absence of good where good should be. More says Plato directed his entire educational program against the "innate indolence of the will" and the neglect of a search for ethical motives "which are the true ...
The problem of evil is the claim that the existence of evil is incompatible with a God who is both omnipotent and wholly good. Since evil does exist, such a God cannot exist. It appears that the theologian must adhere to the three premises ‘evil exists,’ ‘God is omnipotent,’ and ‘God is wholly good.’.
