The Role of Necessity in Facing the Problem of Evil in Plato's Philosophy

Abstract

Plato, when dealing with the problem of evil, more than anything, tries to keep the good and the ideas transcendent and uninvolved in evil. Therefore, apart from the fact that he recognizes humans as the cause of some evil, he talks of a concept called necessity which exists alongside rationality, and plays a vital role in the mechanism of the universe and its regulation. The existence of necessity, as an obstacle in the way of reason, provides an explanation for the systematic emergence of evil in the universe. In fact, Plato, in his attempt to find a solution, once again, resorts to duality. According to this attitude, the good wishes to form a world as perfect as possible, and as far as the reason is concerned, all the affairs will be in accordance with the good but necessity intervenes and interrupts this process. By analyzing necessity and the roles it plays in Plato’s school of thought, and explaining different types of evil in his thought, and concepts such as the idea of good and demiurge and their relation to necessity, this paper tries to show that Plato, despite his serious attempts, was not able to solve the issue of duality which is evident in his philosophy.

Keywords

• plato
• necessity
• evil
• dualism
• demiurge