Sextus Empiricus and Aurelius Augustinus: on the genesis of the medieval concept of the nature of evil

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the genesis of the medieval concept of evil, for which the analysis and comparison of the views of Augustine the Blessed as one of the founders and the greatest representative of scholasticism and Sextus Empiricus as a prominent representative of skepticism, whose views have been fruitfully used by Christian theologians as a set of ideas subject to reasonable criticism, have been carried out. Augustine substantiated his understanding of the phenomenon of evil and his own theodicy, refuting the views of Sextus Empiricus and thinkers who had worked in similar intellectual traditions. The skeptics’ arguments deserve attention to this day, providing the foundation for the intellectual justification of deism and atheism.