Types of Evil
What are the two types of evil Augustine explains?
Moral evil (when someone does evil)
Suffered evil (when someone suffers evil)
Who does Augustine say is responsible for committing evil?
Augustine says each person is the cause of his own evildoing
What is another word Augustine uses for inordinate desire?
Cupidity
What does Augustine say all humans desire?
What are the two types of law Augustine describes?
Eternal law and temporal law
Which type of evil is said to be caused by God?
Suffered evil because God is just and gives punishment.
Why must evil actions be voluntary in order to be punished justly?
Punishment is only just if the act was done “by the will”
What does Augustine identify as the root cause of all sin?
Cupidity, the loving of the wrong things
What is a good will?
The will that desires to live uprightly and wisely
Which law is unchanging and always just?
Eternal law
Why can God not be the cause of moral evil?
God is good and therefore does no evil, only punishes evil.
What is the main reason a person chooses to do wrong?
Augustine says “It is only the will itself that can drag the mind into evil”
Why is someone still guilty if they desire to commit a sin but do not act on it?
The evil lies in the desire itself not just the act
Why are not all people able to achieve happiness?
They do not will rightly
What is the purpose of temporal law?
To maintain order and punish wrongdoing in society
Why is punishment considered evil for the people who suffer them?
Punishment is still something bad that people go through even when its just/fair.
Can anything outside the mind force someone to sin?
No, because the mind is controlled by its own will.
What kind of things does cupidity focus on?
Things that can be lost against ones will
What does a good will aim to achieve?
To live uprightly and attain wisdom
How are temporal laws connected to eternal law?
temporal laws develop from eternal law
When must be true for punishment to be considered just?
No one is punished unjustly. We must believe that God is a cause of suffering evil, but in no way the cause of moral evil.
What makes humans capable of good and evil?
How does Augustine define cupidity(inordinate desire) toward the end of the text?
The turning away from eternal things toward temporal things
Why is a good will considered more valuable than wealth, honor, or pleasure
It is a good that cannot be taken away
Why can temporal laws change while still remaining just?
They are based on the unchanging eternal law