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The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" was coined by the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a Germany polymath who wrote primarily in Latin and French language.He occupies an equally grand place in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics....
 in his 1710 work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal (Theodicy).






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Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz
The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" was coined by the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a Germany polymath who wrote primarily in Latin and French language.He occupies an equally grand place in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathematics....
 in his 1710 work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal (Theodicy). It is the central argument in Leibniz's theodicy, or his attempt to solve the problem of evil
Problem of evil

In the philosophy of religion and theology, the problem of evil is the problem of reconciling the existence of evil or suffering in the world with the existence of God....
.

The problem of evil

Among his many philosophical interests and concerns, Leibniz took on this question of theodicy: how, if God
God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
 is omnibenevolent
Omnibenevolence

Omnibenevolence is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "unlimited or infinite benevolence". It is sometimes held to be impossible for a deity to exhibit both this property and omniscience and omnipotence....
, omnipotent
Omnipotence

Omnipotence is unlimited power.Monotheism religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed. In the religious philosophy of most Western monotheistic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one of a deity's characteristics among many, including omniscience, omnipresence, and omnibenevolence...
 and omniscient
Omniscience

Omniscience is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc....
, do we account for the suffering and injustice that exists in the world? Historically, the question has been answered with all number of philosophical arguments, for example, by explaining away evil or reconciling evil with good.

Free will versus determinism

For Leibniz, also of central concern is the matter of reconciling human freedom (indeed, God's own freedom) with the determinism
Determinism

Determinism is the philosophy proposition that every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is causality determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. With numerous historical debates, many varieties and philosophical positions on the subject of determinism exist from traditions throughout...
 inherent in his own theory of the universe.

Leibniz' solution casts God as a kind of "optimizer" of the collection of all original possibilities: Since He is good and omnipotent, and since He chose this world out of all possibilities, this world must be good--in fact, this world is the best of all possible worlds
Possible Worlds

Possible Worlds may refer to:* Possible worlds, a concept in philosophy* Possible Worlds , by John Mighton** Possible Worlds , by Robert Lepage, based on the Mighton play...
.

On the one hand, this view might help us rationalize some of what we experience: Imagine that all the world is made of good and evil. The best possible world would have the most good and the least evil. Courage is better than no courage. It might be observed, then, that without evil to challenge us, there can be no courage. Since evil brings out the best aspects of humanity, evil is regarded as necessary. So in creating this world God made some evil to make the best of all possible worlds. On the other hand, the theory explains evil not by denying it or even rationalizing it--but simply by declaring it to be part of the optimum combination of elements that comprise the best possible Godly choice.

Criticism

One noteworthy criticism of Leibniz' postulate is that the world contains what appears to be an excessive amount of suffering, among other negative characteristics. For instance, does an event so horrific as the Holocaust have to occur, the detractor would ask, just for the sake of courage? It seems that courage would exist as long as some suffering occurs; the degree of suffering is too severe, so God must not have created the "best of all possible worlds," or so the argument goes. Leibniz attempts to address this concern by discussing what God desires to occur (his antecedent will) and what God allows to occur (his consequent will).

Voltaire
Voltaire

Fran?ois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Age of Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosophy known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberty, including freedom of religion and free trade....
 famously satirized this notion in his novel Candide
Candide

Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a ian the Age of Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, English translations of which have been titled Candide: Or, All for the Best ; Candide: Or, The Optimist ; and Candide: Or, Optimism ....
, in which Leibniz is represented by the eternally optimistic
Optimism

Optimism is an outlook on life such that one maintains a view of the world as a positive place, or one's personal situation as a positive one. It is the philosophical opposite of pessimism....
 character Dr Pangloss. Some argue whether Voltaire's characterization fairly represented Leibniz's philosophy, but in any case, the idea fell almost entirely from favor with philosophers after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake
1755 Lisbon earthquake

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place on November 1, 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami and fires, which caused near-total destruction of Lisbon in Portugal, and adjoining areas....
.

See also

  • Principle of sufficient reason
    Principle of sufficient reason

    The principle of sufficient reason states that anything that happens does so for a definite reason. In virtue of which no fact can be real or no statement true unless it has sufficient reason why it should not be otherwise....
  • Is-ought problem
    Is-ought problem

    In meta-ethics, the is-ought problem was raised by David Hume , who noted that many writers make claims about what ought to be, on the basis of statements about what is....


External links

  • Project Gutenberg provides an .