A Comparative Approach to Solving the Evil Problem Realized in the Universe by Emphasizing the Thoughts of Ibn Sina and Augustine

Abstract

The problem of evil is one of the most important cases that all generations of human beings face during its worldly life, and inevitably have to endure things called evil in the margins or the main text of their lives.Therefore, their thoughts have always been on how God, who is the absolute good, consents to the creation of evil.Due to the existence of such questions among the theologians, theistic thinkers have studied the problem of evil and have tried to offer logical solutions to solve this problem.Ibn Sina and Augustine, as two theistic philosophers, considered the evil of the universe to be much less than its goodness, and argued that this little evil had no contradiction with the existence of a wise and benevolent God.Therefore, the study and analysis of Ibn Sina and Augustine's thought about evil in the world can answer many of man's doubts about evil and help him better understand the cause of the emergence of evil in the world.This paper with descriptive-analytical method first examines the nature and what is evil from the point of view of Ibn Sina and Augustine, then continues by presenting various types of evil and arguing about it and examining and analyzing the solutions offered by two philosophers to solve the problem of evil.Both Ibn Sina and Augustine considered evil to be relative matters, which these relative evils are necessary for a good system, so that without evil, the existing system would not be good.