Provide A Description Of The Apprroaches Of Two Philosphers Of Your

Provide A Description Of The Apprroaches Of Two Philosphers Of Your Provide A Description Of The Apprroaches Of Two Philosphers Of Your Choice To The 'problem Of Evil', â€" Essay Example > Augustine, Swinburne and the Problem of EvilEvil has been a source of philosophic contemplation for as long as there has been philosophy. Some of the greatest minds in history have considered the problem of why evil should exist alongside goodness, with philosophers from Socrates to Swinburne struggling to understand the paradox. The concept of evil carries with it a multitude of connotations: evil can be something as mundane as being that which causes someone pain, or it can be more complex involving subjective opinions of morals or ethics. Fundamental to coming to terms with evil is the assignation of a definition, but even that is a difficult option since what may seem evil to one group can be seen as doing service to God by another; for instance, the events that took place on 9/11. The central contradiction involving the problem of evil is the attempt at reconciling the idea that a God who is considered to be both omnipotent and loving would possess the power to eliminate evil, yet refuse to do so. Medieval philosopher Augustine believed deeply y the omnipotence and infallibility of God and so argued that God's creations used the free will given them to turn away from God. As a result, evil was introduced into the world not by God, but rather by humanity’s lack of control to deny it and do only good. Augustine's methodology for finding a solution the contradiction of evil is threefold. Augustine begins with the presumption that that evil is a privation and therefore does not actually exist; in this way he maintains the Aristotelian thought that only goodness exudes from God. Augustine elucidates further that human perception of evil is based upon the assumption that it is the absence of good in everything that God created. Though created by a perfect being, all things created are subject to the corruption of human beings, which implies an absence of good in all things that are created because these things are not in themselves the greatest good, which is God. Augustine’s second part to his solution to the problem of evil is that he argues that this apparent imperfection of any part of creation disappears in light of the perfection of the whole. Augustine writes that “Out of all things is built up the admirable beauty of the universe, wherein even that which is called evil, properly ordered and disposed, commends the good the more evidently, so that the good be more pleasing and praiseworthy when contrasted with evil. ” Augustine expresses the perspective that goodness would have little value if evil did not also exist to make the good that much more worthy. By taking this approach, Augustine is able to deny the existence of that which contemporary philosophy terms instrumental or evil that has had a long term positive effect on the world. Instrumental evil is the kind of evil that is not determinant based upon immediacy, but rather is an integral part of a long, evolutionary process that ultimately results in a goodness that exceeds the original harmful intent. In contrast to instrumental evil, Augustine posits the idea of genuine evil, which is essentially the understanding of an evil that would have left the world better had it not occurred.