The Problem of Evil

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The problem of evil has been a question that philosophers have been trying to answer for centuries. It simply states that if God exists and is perfect and all-powerful then why evil does exist in our world. Two great philosophers named Gottfried Leibniz and Nicolas Malebranche attempt to answer this question with their own unique solutions. Although they both answer the same question they have drastically different views. Specifically, they disagree on whether or not this world could be the best possible world God created. In this paper, I plan to dissect both men’s solutions to the problem of evil and furthermore argue for Leibniz’s solution that this is the best possible world that God could have created.
Before I begin going through these philosopher’s solutions it’s important to understand first why they believed evil was a problem. The problem of evil has been commonly regarded as the main argument for atheism. The argument stems from the logic that if God is a perfect being and created everything; how can evil exist? The atheist will try and argue that God and evil are incompatible with one another which as a result must mean that God cannot exist since evil does. (Murray). However, if we conclude that God does exist then how does a perfect being who has the power to create everything in the universe, then why has this God created evil? Is it possible that God could potentially be the author of evil? These questions set the stage for our philosophers to propose potential solutions to why an all-powerful God could create or allow evil to exist in our world. Leibniz has two potential solutions to these questions that he classifies as the Holiness Problem and the Underachiever Problem (Murray).
As I mentioned earlier the...

... middle of paper ...

... between the two philosophers. His solutions to the problem of evil seem more reliable and he provides more evidence to support his argument. Malebranche’s claim that evil is a bi-product of the laws God has set in place doesn’t seem plausible to me. So in conclusion, I find that Leibniz’s solution to the problem of evil to be more plausible and that this world is the best possible world that God could have created.

Works Cited

Leibniz, Gottfried. Essays on the Justice of God and the Freedom of Man in the Origins of Evil.
Malebranche, Nicolas. Dialogues on Metaphysics And On Religion. n.d.
Murray, Michael. Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 27 February 2013. 29 April 2014 .
Schmaltz, Tad. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 7 October 2013. 29 April 2014 .

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