Leibniz Evil Vs Evil Essay

Evil is something that everyone sees and feels differently. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it in many ways ranging from “morally reprehensible” to simply “bringing sorrow, trouble, or destruction”. Obviously, evil is hard to describe and yet has been with us from the start. From a religious perspective, many cannot understand why an infinitely good being such as God would allow this evil suffering and pain to exist unless and feel betrayed by Him. Evil, to these people, is the direct opposite of God’s goodness and a world containing it is far inferior to a world that does not. This is precisely what German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz attempts to explain in his book Theodicy. In Theodicy, Leibniz claims that evil and God’s goodness are perfectly compatible with one another and a world with no evil actually has less good than a world without. This, Leibniz says, is because evil adds something that is necessary for the maximum amount of goodness to exist. God, being infinite, should not be doubted or by those of the finite and it should be assumed that God knows something about evil that we finite creatures …show more content…
Leibniz chose to see God as infinitely good and evil as a means to reach even more good. In this way evil is actually a very good and necessary thing. Leibniz goes on say that not only bad experiences are evil but, anything can be an evil, even a lesser good should it stand in the way of a greater one. The parameters on what defines an evil are incredibly fine and difficult to locate. Only an infinite being could know what will ultimately be the evil and the good. When looked at from a mortal perspective without perfect knowledge of every consequence it is easy to say what appears to be a good and an evil, however had we God’s complete knowledge we might see these things