Evils, Privations, and the Early Moderns

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the concept of evil in the works of early modern rationalists—especially Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Prior to the seventeenth century, there was a consensus among medieval Christians that evil was a privation of goodness. By the eighteenth century, privation theory had been mostly abandoned by leading theists. How and why did this conceptual shift occur? I first explore the nature and role of privation theory in medieval accounts of evil. I then turn to the early modern criticisms of this once dominant concept of evil and trace its abandonment. I conclude by wondering whether the early modern eclipse of privation theory has been wholly salutary for theists.