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Aristotle & Augustine The Discipline Essay

We can infer that good is something created by men. It is the product of reason. If Aristotle places that much responsibility to the faculty of reason, St. Augustine place that weight in God's hands as he maintained that the only way for men to be good, for men to be happy is through the grace of God. Good, then, cannot come from men but from God's grace. The Evil

St. Augustine's denial of the very existence of evil (it cannot be a substance) even dismissing it as simply an illusion of some sort, is a bit of a problem for me. Again, here we can find the utility of Aristotle's pragmatic view on things. If you hurt a person for example, can we not consider it as an evil deed? Or a sin? Can we simply acknowledge it as an "illusion"? But is not the case that, as interactionists would put it, if something is real for you, then it achieves real consequences? Dismissing the evil and detaining it in the level of illusion so as to deny the existence of evil in the hope of defending the "God created all things" battle cry of the Catholic side, is definitely a weakness in the theory of Augustine...

It is something that needs to be practiced, experienced, and reflected unlike in Augustine's view says that it is something bestowed by God.
References

Ferguson., W. (1993). If God is all powerful and good, where does evil come from? Retrieved from http://www.kheper.net/topics/philosophy/Beyond_the_Problem_of_Evil.html. onKemerling, G. (2001). Aristotle: Ethics and Virtues. Retrieved at http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2s.htm. onMarch 3, 2009

Kraut, R. (2007). Aristotle's Ethics. Retrieved at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics.OnMarch 3, 2009.

Payne, W.R. (n.d.). St. Augustine. Retrieved at http://facweb.bcc.ctc.edu/wpayne/augustine.htm. OnMarch 3, 2009.

Sinclair Community College Website (n.d.). Theodicy: Proposed Solutions to Problem of Evil.

Retrieved at http://people.sinclair.edu/ryanvanlenning/Theodicy.htm. onMarch 3, 2009.

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References

Ferguson., W. (1993). If God is all powerful and good, where does evil come from? Retrieved from http://www.kheper.net/topics/philosophy/Beyond_the_Problem_of_Evil.html. onKemerling, G. (2001). Aristotle: Ethics and Virtues. Retrieved at http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/2s.htm. onMarch 3, 2009

Kraut, R. (2007). Aristotle's Ethics. Retrieved at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-ethics.OnMarch 3, 2009.

Payne, W.R. (n.d.). St. Augustine. Retrieved at http://facweb.bcc.ctc.edu/wpayne/augustine.htm. OnMarch 3, 2009.

Sinclair Community College Website (n.d.). Theodicy: Proposed Solutions to Problem of Evil.
Retrieved at http://people.sinclair.edu/ryanvanlenning/Theodicy.htm. onMarch 3, 2009.
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