Work · Rationalism
Theodicy
Why a good God permits evil: the best of all possible worlds.
Introduction
The Theodicy, published in French in Amsterdam in 1710, is the only full-length book Leibniz published in his lifetime; he coined its title from the Greek words for God and justice. It grew out of conversations with Queen Sophie Charlotte of Prussia about Pierre Bayle’s arguments that faith and reason cannot be reconciled on the question of evil. After a preliminary discourse on the agreement of faith and reason, three parts discuss divine justice, human freedom and the origin of evil, which Leibniz divides into metaphysical, physical and moral evil. Voltaire mocked its optimism in “Candide” (1759).
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Connections
Responds to
- Historical and Critical Dictionary1697 · Pierre Bayle
Criticized in
- Candide, or Optimism1759 · Voltaire
More works by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- 1714Monadology
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