Avicena and Augustine on the problem of evil
Abstract
Both Avicenna and Augustine were the greatest philosophers and theologians, and because of being theologians, they considered the problem of evil from the window of their devotion to God. Augustine, in his early years, although to answer to his important questions about God, creation, evil, and…, was influenced by Manichaeism, but he, after his familiarity with the Neo-Platonism and Christianity, approached the questions from the new viewpoint. Believing to two Divine attributes, within Muslims too, made some theoretical problems, such as; how while God is just and wise creates evil? If God created all things, and evil is a thing, then God created evil. Avicenna, like Augustine among the Muslim philosopher, tried to answer these questions. Here, after investigating their point of view on the problem of evil, I will attempt to assess their approaches.