Gottfried Leibniz. The Best of All Possible Worlds and Theodicy
According to Leibniz, the presence of evil in the world is permitted as a necessary condition for achieving a greater good, such as free will or the development of virtue.
The concept of the best of all possible worlds became one of the most well-known and simultaneously controversial aspects of Leibniz's philosophy, drawing criticism from both his contemporaries and later philosophers.
Leibniz viewed evil as an inherent part of the world, based on the principle that the world consists of "monads," each of which is unique and possesses its own degree of perfection and limitation. Metaphysical evil, according to Leibniz, stems from the very structure of reality, where the monads he conceived are inherently limited, and this limitation is not something imposed from the outside or due to a defect. It is inevitable if there are many monads, each different from the others. If monads were not limited, they would be identical to God, which would contradict the idea of their diversity and uniqueness.
The concept of monads cannot be empirically tested; modern science emphasizes testability and empirical verifiability. This makes Leibniz's ideas vulnerable to criticism from the standpoint of the scientific method. Leibniz's Monadology is perceived as a set of dogmatic assertions, even resembling religious doctrine.
There is nothing in the universe that is uncultivated or barren, no death, no chaos, no random mixture — this is only an appearance. Thus, it is clear that every living body has a dominant entelechy, which in animals is the soul.
The concepts of the best of all possible worlds and monads are central to Leibniz's philosophy.
Leibniz argued that God, being omniscient and omnipotent, chose to create this world out of all possible worlds because it is the best one. This does not mean that our world is free from evil or suffering; rather, evil means that the combination of good and evil in the world maximizes overall good and perfection, considering all possible alternatives. Monads make our world the best of all possible worlds through several key aspects. From the beginning, monads are in a state of pre-established harmony set by God, meaning that all processes on Earth are arranged to achieve the greatest harmony. Each monad reflects the entire universe and plays its unique role in the world. In this sense, the world is optimally arranged, where each part contributes to the greater good.