Haunted by God : the privation theory and existence itself

Abstract

My aim is to show that if the privation theory of evil is true, then at any moment in which there is actual evil in the world necessarily there exists a thing whose essence is identical to its existence, namely, Existence Itself or God. I first argue that theodicies and the problem of evil itself are unsatisfactory because they fail to demonstrate any correspondence to reality as such. This is mainly due to current discussions of the problem of evil assuming two fundamental aspects that go unacknowledged, namely, evil and God. Second, I set out the core theory of the privation theory and defend it against objections. Third, I defend what I call the “Evil to God” argument and show that it forestalls the problem of evil since actual evil necessitates the existence of God. My hope is to contribute to the discussion of the problem of evil by revitalising often ignored concepts of evil and God.