  Matter is only evil in other than a purely metaphysical sense when it becomes an impediment to return to the One.  It is evil when considered as a goal or end that is a polar opposite to the Good.  To deny the necessity of evil is to deny the necessity of the Good (I 8. 15).  Matter is only evil for entities that can consider it as a goal of desire.  These are, finally, only entities that can be self-conscious of their goals.  Specifically, human beings, by opting for attachments to the bodily, orient themselves in the direction of evil.  This is not because body itself is evil.  The evil in bodies is the element in them that is not dominated by form.  One may be desirous of that form, but in that case what one truly desires is that form’s ultimate intelligible source in Intellect.  More typically, attachment to the body represents a desire not for form but a corrupt desire for the non-intelligible or limitless. 