gotfrid leibniz - god, evil and the best of all possible worlds Flashcards
How does Leibniz propose to reconcile the view that God created the best world with the fact that there is evil in the world
-◦“Whoever does not choose the best is lacking in power, or in knowledge, or in goodness.
God did not choose the best in creating this world.
Therefore God has been lacking in power, or in knowledge, or in goodness.”
Leibniz’ response:
◦“I deny the minor, that is, the second premise of this syllogism: and our opponent proves it by this.”
So, according to Leibniz, God did choose the best possible world.
——the best possible world has no evil in it … this world has evil … this is not the besit possible world… if not best possible world then god good/omnipotent
What is Leibniz’ position based on?
Not on the view that there is no evil in the world. Leibniz accepts the existence of evil.
“God has made a world in which there is evil; a world, I say, which could have been made without any evil, or the making of which could have been omitted altogether.”
Why does Leibniz think that a world with evil in it may well be a better world than one without evil?
-Maybe having some evil is necessary in order to enjoy some even greater good:
◦“I have wished to justify this denial by showing that the best plan is not always that which seeks to avoid evil, since it may happen that the evil be accompanied by a greater good.”
What might this greater good be?
Why does it need evil to come about?
Some possible explanations:
Evil needed in order for us to appreciate the good.
What might seem bad right now, might turn out to be good in the long run.
Leibniz’ example from the Old Testament:
“I have shown that the ancients called Adam’s fall felix culpa, a happy sin, because it had been retrieved with immense advantage by the incarnation of the Son of God, who has given to the universe something nobler than anything that ever would have been among creatures except for this.”
Sin came with free choice, and free choice is something good.
According to Leibniz:
“It was in accordance with order and the general good that God gave to certain creatures the opportunity of exercising their liberty, even when he foresaw that they would turn to evil, but which he could so well rectify; because it was not right that, in order to hinder sin, God should always act in an extraordinary manner.”
So, Leibniz does not only claim that a world with evil might be better than a world without it.
He actually claims that the world we live in is the best possible world.
This appears to be necessary for accepting the benevolence of God.
And Leibniz thinks we have absolutely no reason for thinking that this world is less than the best possible.
