Augustinian treatment of the problem of evil: A vindication against secularist Criticism

Abstract

Augustine of Hippo is usually regarded as the first philosopher to affront this problem from a systematic point of view. Nonetheless, the privationist solution he offered, forged in neoplatonic terms, is considered a theological, rather than a philosophical, device. Despite its enormous influence, Augustinian solution has been accused of being both metaphysical and misleading, because it cannot provide an adequate approach the origin and nature of evil. This essay intends to expose the main lines of the Augustinian solution, its internal steadiness and import as solution to the problem of evil.