The problem of evil is a problem that has been debated by various philosophers and theologians for centuries of human history

The problem of evil is a problem that has been debated by various philosophers and theologians for centuries of human history. The problem of evil is a question that asks why there is suffering and evil in the world if God is all knowing and all benevolent (Abel, 86). In this essay I will be examining two philosopher’s viewpoints on the problem of evil and what their thoughts on it are. In my problem of evil paper, I will be arguing for Augustine’s position on the problem of evil which is that human beings are responsible for the existence of moral evil in the world as a result of our free choices we make as a result of the free will we have.
Augustine defines moral evil as the evil that someone does as a result of their free will (Abel, 74). This is best supported by how Augustine talks about evil in two different ways while having a conversation with Evodius (Abel, 75). An example from the text that supports this is how Augustine talks about evil in two different senses which is “first, when we say that someone has done evil; and second, when we say that someone has suffered evil” (Abel, 75). The statement from the text is explaining how there are two different forms of evil which are known as the evil that someone does a result of their free will which allows them to make choices and the evil has happened to someone from a outside force that could or could not be known. This brings in the fact that inordinate desire is also a major driving force for someone to commit moral evil (Abel,78). This is best supported by the following dialogue from Evodius which is “For it is clear now that inordinate desire is what drives every kind of evildoing” (Abel, 78). In the next part of the essay I will be explaining how Augustine defines moral evil in the way he does.
Augustine defines moral evil in the way that he does because human beings have free will and are the cause of their own evil themselves while also having inordinate desire that drives them to do evil (Abel, 75). An example that supports this is “There certainly is. Such evil could not occur unless someone caused it. But if you ask who that someone is, it is impossible to say. For there is no single cause of evil; rather, everyone who does evil is the cause of his own evildoing. If you doubt this, recall what I said earlier: Evil deeds are punished by the justice of God. They would not be punished unjustly if they had not been performed voluntarily” (Abel, 75). The example is explaining how evil has no single cause of origin and how everyone who does evil is the cause of their own evil. Augustine then says if you don’t believe that everyone who does evil is the cause of their own evil, he says to remember back what he said earlier which are that evil actions are punished under the benevolence and juridistriction of God. He then goes on to say how people who commit evil deeds would not be punished unjustly by God if they had not committed evil acts voluntarily out of their own free will.
Augustine thinks we are responsible for evil and not God is because human beings have free will which allows them to make choices in life which can be categorized as good or evil meaning that we are in control of our own actions. An example that supports the fact that Augustine thinks that human beings are responsible for evil and not God is “The conclusions that we have reached thus far indicate that is in control (one that possesses virtue) cannot be made a slave to inordinate desire by anything equal or superior to it, because such a thing would be just, or by anything inferior to it, because such a thing would be too weak. Just one possibility remains: Only its own will and free choice can make the mind a companion of cupidity” (Abel, 81). Augustine is explaining in this statement from the text is how he concluded that a person who is good will not be subject to inordinate desire which drives them to commit moral evil and how someone’s free will is a prominent force for the mind to grow inordinate desire.
The free will and choice of a person can make inordinate desire itself supported by the mind. The statement supports that human beings are responsible for their own actions and they can commit to themselves to do good or evil depending on their free will which is the sole factor in the cause of evil.
This ties into how Augustine views God and how he is not the cause of evil in the world. Human beings are considered sentient beings who are responsible for their own morality such as making good or evil decisions which affect other individuals and society at large. The argument posed by the problem of evil is why is there so much suffering and evil in the world if God is omnibenevolent. Augustine responds to this argument by claiming that human beings are the cause of evil in the world because of their free will and the fact that they have inordinate desire which also drives them in their descion to commit evil acts which affect other individuals and society at large. He cites an example of this in the text which involves the act of adultery involving another person. The example is “Then perhaps what makes adultery evil is inordinate desire, whereas so long as you look for the evil in the external, visible act, you are bound to encounter difficulties. In order to understand that inordinate desire is what makes adultery evil, consider this: if a man is unable to sleep with someone else’s wife, but it is somehow clear that he would like to, and would do so if he had the chance, he is no less guilty than if he were caught in the act” (Abel, 78). Augustine is explaining in the statement that adultery is evil because of inordinate desire and he cites the example of a man who wants to commit adultery with someone else’s wife. The desire of the man wanting to commit adultery with someone else’s wife makes him guilty because of his inordinate desire to commit the act of adultery. The statement shows how Augustine views inordinate desire as the cause of evil and how free will and inordinate desire play a part of evil in society.
Augustine’s view of God in general is important to the whole origin of the problem of evil because he views God in a positive light and is a believer in the existence of God. This provides an opposing argument to people who view God in a negative light and not believe in the existence of God. The main argument posed by Augustine is that human beings are the cause of evil in the world and the root of the problem of evil rests on human beings being the cause of their own evil. A statement that supports this is “Be courageous and go on believing what you believe. There is no better belief, even if you do not yet see the explanation for why it is true. The truest beginning of piety is to think as highly of God as possible; and doing so means that one must believe that he is omnipotent, and not changeable in the smallest respect; that he is the creator of all good things, but is himself more excellent than all of them; that he is the supremely just ruler of everything that he created; and that he was not aided in creating by any other being, as if he were not sufficiently powerful by himself. It follows that he created all things from nothing” (Abel, 77). The statement shows and explains how Augustine views God in a positive light and how it is important to believe in the existence of God as an omnipresent and omnibeleveont creator of all things in existence and belief in God is praiseworthy as a virtue.
In conclusion that is how Augustine defines moral evil and his thoughts on the problem of evil which are that human beings are responsible and are the cause of the problem of evil in the world because of their free will which enables them to make choices which can be good or evil.
In the next part of my essay I will be talking about J.L. Mackie view on Augustine’s free will defense which is that moral evil does not come from God it comes from humans which is the result of our free will which allows us to make choices that are good or evil and I will also be talking about J.L. Mackie’s view on the problem of evil whether it comes from humans or God itself.
J.L. Mackie does not think that moral evil needs to be a possibility if we are to have free choices because God is considered omnipotent which means that God could have made humans that have free will that will always choose to do good rather than evil and that it would be inconsistent with the idea of God being all-powerful and the creator of the universe. An example from a statement from the text that supports this is “First, I should query the assumption that second order evils are logically necessary accompaniments of freedom. I should ask this: If God has made men such that in their free choices, they sometimes prefer what is good and some-times what is evil, why could he not have made men such that they always freely choose the good? If there is no logical impossibility in a men’s freely choosing the good on every occasion” (Abel, 93). J.L. Mackie is explaining here in this statement how he questions whether evil is a necessary part of freedom especially when it comes to making choices. He then asks if God made human beings with the ability to make choices to choose good or evil why can’t humans’ beings have been created to always choose good out of their free will if God is omnipotent.
J.L. Mackie’s thoughts on the problem of evil are that human beings are not responsible for evil in the world and God is responsible for the presence of evil in the world because God is considered to be omnipotent which means that he is all-powerful which means that he created the world where human beings have free will allowing them to make good or evil choices according to their free will. An example that supports this is “God was not, then, faced with a choice between making innocent automata and making beings who would act freely but always go right. Clearly, his failure to alive himself of this possibility is inconsistent with his being both omnipotent and wholly good” (Abel, 93). J.L Mackie explains in this statement how God did not have the possibility of a choice of making human beings who did not have free will and human beings who have free will but will always choose to do good and how God not having this possibility is not coherent with him being omnipotent and being benevolent in the sense of making human beings who have free will. Another reason why J.L. Mackie does not think that moral evil needs to be a possibility if we have free choices is that he considers free will specifically freedom as a value that ignores wrongdoing as a result of free will. This is best supported by this statement “If God could do this, but does not, and if he is wholly good, the only explanation could be that even a wrong free act of will is not really evil, that its freedom is a value that outweighs its wrongness, so that there would be a loss of value if God took away the wrongness and the freedom together” (Abel, 94). J.L. Mackie is explaining in this statement that an act of free will that chooses to do evil is not considered immoral or bad if God doesn’t get involved when sees someone with free will choosing to do evil and act immorally as a result of free will.
In conclusion that is J.L. Mackie’s thoughts on the problem of evil which are that human beings are not responsible for the presence of evil in the world and how he considers God as responsible for the problem of evil in the world because he gave human beings free will which allows them to choose to do evil in the world. This directly contrasts with the idea of God being omnipotent.
In the last part of my problem of evil paper I will be stating my position and argument regarding the problem of evil in the world which involve both Augustine’s and Mackie’s thoughts on the problem of evil. The position that I find the most convincing out of Augustine and J.L. Mackie is Augustine’s position on the problem of evil which states that human beings are responsible for the presence of evil in the world. The reason why I find Augustine’s position more convincing than J.L. Mackie’s is because human beings are sentient beings who are aware of their own actions and have free will which allows them to choose to do good or evil. Human beings are lifeforms who have a sense of awareness of their own existence and the ability to have free will as a result of their consciousness and sentience. This enables them to make choices that effect society in a positive and negative way. Another reason why I find Augustine’s position on the problem of evil convincing is because humans are responsible for their own actions during their existence on earth and they are the most intelligent beings on earth to comprehend their actions as a result of their free will. Humans beings being responsible for their own actions because of the choices they make in life highlights the fact that they are responsible The reason why I don’t find J.L. Mackie’s position on the problem of evil convincing is because J.L. Mackie ignores other possible answers that relate to God’s existence and the problem of evil such as downplaying the fact that human beings have their own free will which gives them choices to commit either good or evil acts and shifting the entire responsibility on the being called God who created humans.