Is Matter the Principle of Evil?

If the world around us is suffused with divinity and governed by providence, as it must be, then why does the world seem to leave so much room for improvement? The working of providence seems amply proven by the existence of creatures as exquisite and well-designed as giraffes. But what should we say about the suffering of a giraffe caught in a brushfire and burned to death, or about an illness which strikes down an entire herd? As we saw, Plotinus had an answer to such questions. He pointed to matter as the culprit, identifying it as the principle of evil and also as utter non-being.