Whence then is evil? one might say. For if evil does not exist, virtue and vice are the same thing, and the whole is the same as the whole, and the part as that which is analogous, or not even that which wars against virtue will be evil. And yet moderation and intemperance are opposites, and justice and injustice. And I do not speak, of course, with respect to the just man and the unjust man, nor the moderate and the intemperate, but even before the externally apparent opposition of the virtuous man to his opposite, the vices are altogether separated from the virtues much earlier in the soul itself, and the passions are in rebellion against reason, and from these things it is necessary to grant that something evil is contrary to the good. For the good is not contrary to itself, but, as the offspring of one beginning and one cause, it rejoices in communion and unity and friendship. And the lesser good is not contrary to the greater, for neither is the less hot or cold contrary to the more. Therefore, evil is among existing things, and it is a being, and it is set against and is contrary to the good. And if there is corruption of existing things, this does not cast evil out from being, but it too will be a being and a generator of beings. Or is not the corruption of this thing often the generation of that thing? And evil will contribute to the completion of the universe, providing through itself for the whole not to be incomplete. <> But to these things the true account will say that evil, insofar as it is evil, produces neither substance nor generation, but only vitiates and corrupts, as far as it can, the subsistence of beings. But if someone should say that it is generative and that by its corruption it gives generation to another, it must be truly answered: Not insofar as it corrupts does it give generation, but insofar as it is corruption and evil, it only corrupts and vitiates; but generation and substance come about through the good, and evil will be corruption through itself, but generative through the good, and insofar as it is evil, it is neither a being nor a producer of beings, but through the good it is both a being and a good being and a producer of good things. Rather, neither will the same thing be, in respect to the same thing, both good and evil, nor is the corruption and generation of the same thing the same power in respect to the same thing, nor self-power or self-corruption. Therefore, evil-in-itself is neither a being nor good nor generative nor a producer of beings and good things; but the good, in those things in which it may be perfectly present, makes them perfect and unmixed and wholly good, but those things that partake of it less are both imperfect goods and mixed on account of the lack of the good. And evil is universally neither good nor a producer of good, but that which is more or less near to the good will be good analogously, since the all-perfect goodness that pervades all things does not proceed only as far as the all-good substances around it, but extends to the very last things, being present to some wholly, to others in a lesser degree, and to others in the last degree, as each of the beings is able to partake of it. And some partake of the good in every way, others are more and less deprived, others have a fainter participation in the good, and to others the good is present as a last echo. For if the good were not present to each thing analogously, the most divine and eldest things would have the rank of the last. And how was it possible for all things to partake of the good in a single form, when not all things are equally suited for whole participation in it? But now this is "the exceeding greatness" of the power of the good, that it empowers even the things deprived and its own privation, by virtue of partaking of it at all. And if I must speak the truth boldly: Even the things that fight against it exist and are able to fight by its power. Rather, to speak concisely, all beings, insofar as they exist, are also good and from the good; but insofar as they are deprived of the good, they are neither good nor beings. For in the case of other states, such as heat or cold, things that have been heated or cooled exist even when the heat and cold have left them, and many beings are without a share of life and mind. And God is removed from substance and exists super-substantially. And simply, in the case of all other things, even when the state has departed or never been present at all, beings exist and are able to subsist; but that which is in every way deprived of the good in no place and in no way was, or is, or will be, or can be. For instance the intemperate man, if even he is deprived of the good with respect to the

Πόθεν οὖν ἐστι τὸ κακόν; Eἴποι τις. Eἰ γὰρ μὴ ἔστι τὸ κακόν, ἀρετὴ καὶ κακία ταὐτὸν καὶ ἡ πᾶσα τῇ ὅλῃ καὶ ἡ ἐν μέρει τῇ ἀνὰ λόγον ἢ οὐδὲ τὸ τῇ ἀρετῇ μαχόμενον ἔσται κακόν. Καίτοι ἐναντία σωφροσύνη καὶ ἀκολασία καὶ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀδικία. Καὶ οὐ δήπου κατὰ τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἄδικόν φημι καὶ τὸν σώφρονα καὶ τὸν ἀκόλαστον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἔξω φαινομένης τοῦ ἐναρέτου πρὸς τὸν ἀντικείμενον διαστάσεως ἐν αὐτῇ πολλῷ πρότερον τῇ ψυχῇ καθόλου διεστήκασι τῶν ἀρετῶν αἱ κακίαι καὶ πρὸς τὸν λόγον τὰ πάθη στασιάζει καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἀνάγκη δοῦναί τι τῷ ἀγαθῷ κακὸν ἐναντίον. Oὐ γὰρ ἑαυτῷ τἀγαθὸν ἐναντίον, ἀλλ' ὡς ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἑνὸς ἔκγονον αἰτίου κοινωνίᾳ καὶ ἑνότητι καὶ φιλίᾳ χαίρει. Καὶ οὐδὲ τὸ ἔλαττον ἀγαθὸν τῷ μείζονι ἐναντίον, οὔτε γὰρ τὸ ἧττον θερμὸν ἢ ψυχρὸν τῷ πλείονι ἐναντίον. Ἔστιν οὖν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι καὶ ὄν ἐστι καὶ ἀντιτέθειται καὶ ἠναντίωται τἀγαθῷ τὸ κακόν. Καὶ εἰ φθορὰ ἔστι τῶν ὄντων, οὐκ ἐκβάλλει τοῦτο τοῦ εἶναι τὸ κακόν, ἀλλ' ἔσται καὶ αὐτὸ ὂν καὶ ὄντων γενεσιουργόν. Ἢ οὐχὶ πολλάκις ἡ τοῦδε φθορὰ τοῦδε γίγνεται γένεσις; Καὶ ἔσται τὸ κακὸν εἰς τὴν τοῦ παντὸς συμπλήρωσιν συντελοῦν καὶ τῷ ὅλῳ τὸ μὴ ἀτελὲς εἶναι δι' ἑαυτὸ παρεχόμενον. <> Ἐρεῖ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος, ὅτι τὸ κακόν, ᾗ κακόν, οὐδεμίαν οὐσίαν ἢ γένεσιν ποιεῖ, μόνον δὲ κακύνει καὶ φθείρει τὸ ἐφ' αὑτῷ τὴν τῶν ὄντων ὑπόστασιν. Eἰ δὲ γενεσιουργόν τις αὐτὸ εἶναι λέγοι καὶ τῇ τούτου φθορᾷ τῷ ἑτέρῳ διδόναι γένεσιν, ἀποκριτέον ἀληθῶς· Oὐχ ᾗ φθείρει, δίδωσι γένεσιν, ἀλλ' ᾗ μὲν φθορὰ καὶ κακόν, φθείρει καὶ κακύνει μόνον, γένεσις δὲ καὶ οὐσία διὰ τὸ ἀγαθὸν γίγνεται, καὶ ἔσται τὸ κακὸν φθορὰ μὲν δι' ἑαυτό, γενεσιουργὸν δὲ διὰ τὸ ἀγαθὸν καί, ᾗ μὲν κακόν, οὔτε ὂν οὔτε ὄντων ποιητικόν, διὰ δὲ τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ὂν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ὂν καὶ ἀγαθῶν ποιητικόν. Μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔσται τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ ἀγαθὸν καὶ κακόν, οὐδὲ τοῦ αὐτοῦ φθορὰ καὶ γένεσις ἡ αὐτὴ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ δύναμις οὔτε αὐτοδύναμις ἢ αὐτοφθορά. Τὸ μὲν οὖν αὐτοκακὸν οὔτε ὂν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὔτε γενεσιουργὸν οὔτε ὄντων καὶ ἀγαθῶν ποιητικόν, τὸ δὲ ἀγαθόν, ἐν οἷς μὲν ἂν τελέως ἐγγένηται, τέλεια ποιεῖ καὶ ἀμιγῆ καὶ ὁλόκληρα ἀγαθά, τὰ δὲ ἧττον αὐτοῦ μετέχοντα καὶ ἀτελῆ ἐστιν ἀγαθὰ καὶ μεμιγμένα διὰ τὴν ἔλλειψιν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. Καὶ οὐκ ἔστι καθόλου τὸ κακὸν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὔτε ἀγαθοποιόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μᾶλλον ἢ ἧττον τῷ ἀγαθῷ πλησιάζον ἀναλόγως ἔσται ἀγαθόν, ἐπείπερ ἡ διὰ πάντων φοιτῶσα παντελὴς ἀγαθότης οὐ μέχρι μόνον χωρεῖ τῶν περὶ αὐτὴν παναγάθων οὐσιῶν, ἐκτείνεται δὲ ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων, ταῖς μὲν ὁλικῶς παροῦσα, ταῖς δὲ ὑφειμένως, ἄλλαις δὲ ἐσχάτως, ὡς ἕκαστον αὐτῆς μετέχειν δύναται τῶν ὄντων. Καὶ τὰ μὲν πάντη τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μετέχει, τὰ δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον ἐστέρηται, τὰ δὲ ἀμυδροτέραν ἔχει τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μετουσίαν καὶ ἄλλοις κατὰ ἔσχατον ἀπήχημα πάρεστι τἀγαθόν. Eἰ γὰρ μὴ ἀναλόγως ἑκάστῳ τἀγαθὸν παρῆν, ἦν ἂν τὰ θειότατα καὶ πρεσβύτατα τὴν τῶν ἐσχάτων ἔχοντα τάξιν. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἦν δυνατὸν μονοειδῶς πάντα μετέχειν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μὴ πάντα ὄντα ταὐτῶς εἰς τὴν ὁλικὴν αὐτοῦ μέθεξιν ἐπιτήδεια; Νῦν δὲ τοῦτο ἔστι τῆς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ δυνάμεως «τὸ ὑπερβάλλον μέγεθος», ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἐστερημένα καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ στέρησιν δυναμοῖ κατὰ τὸ ὅλως αὐτοῦ μετέχειν. Καὶ εἰ χρὴ παῤῥησιασάμενον εἰπεῖν τἀληθῆ· Καὶ τὰ μαχόμενα αὐτῷ τῇ αὐτοῦ δυνάμει καὶ ἔστι καὶ μάχεσθαι δύναται. Μᾶλλον δέ, ἵνα συλλαβὼν εἴπω, τὰ ὄντα πάντα, καθ' ὅσον ἔστι, καὶ ἀγαθά ἐστι καὶ ἐκ τἀγαθοῦ, καθ' ὅσον δὲ ἐστέρηται τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, οὔτε ἀγαθὰ οὔτε ὄντα ἐστίν. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ἕξεων οἷον θερμότητος ἢ ψυχρότητος ἔστι τὰ θερμανθέντα ἢ τὰ ψυχθέντα καὶ ἀπολιπούσης αὐτὰ τῆς θερμότητος καὶ τῆς ψυχρότητος, καὶ ζωῆς καὶ νοῦ πολλὰ τῶν ὄντων ἄμοιρα. Καὶ οὐσίας ὁ θεὸς ἐξῄρηται καὶ ἔστιν ὑπερουσίως. Καὶ ἁπλῶς ἐπὶ μὲν τῶν ἄλλων πάντων καὶ ἀπελθούσης ἢ μηδὲ ἐγγενομένης πάντη τῆς ἕξεως ἔστι τὰ ὄντα καὶ ὑφίστασθαι δύναται, τὸ δὲ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἐστερημένον οὐδαμῆ οὐδαμῶς· οὔτε ἦν οὔτε ἐστὶν οὔτε ἔσται οὔτε εἶναι δύναται. Oἷον ὁ ἀκόλαστος, εἰ καὶ ἐστέρηται τἀγαθοῦ κατὰ τὴν