Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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METAPHYSICAL EVIL

Anything finite just because it is finite. It therefore lacks the complete goodness possessed by God alone. The term was used by some philosophers (e.g., Leibniz) to describe any limitation even though perfectly natural, as in all creatures. But the expression is not acceptable in scholastic philosophy as a correct description of evil because it implies there is something wrong in not being perfect.