Privation

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The state of being deprived or destitute of something, especially of something required or desired; destitution; need; as, to undergo severe privations.

(2): ( n.) The condition of being absent; absence; negation.

(3): ( n.) The act of depriving, or taking away; hence, the depriving of rank or office; degradation in rank; deprivation.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is a philosophical term which, according to Plato, is limitation, imperfection, the inherent condition of all finite existence, and the necessary cause of evil. Leibnitz (Causa Dei, 69, 72; Essai suo la bonte de Dieu, 1iere partie, 29, 31; 3ieme partie, 378), after Augustine, Aquinas, and others, held similar views.