tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965129600888088421.post6533664039574714030..comments2007-11-04T11:27:34.718-06:00Shawn Niemannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11728855461853744068noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5965129600888088421.post-57510771842133362502007-11-04T11:27:34.718-06:002007-11-04T11:27:34.718-06:00It's interesting to note that Voltaire used Pangloss, his eponymously optimistic character, to offer a stinging criticism of Leibniz' philosophy. Leibniz claimed that a good and all-powerful God would have no choice but to create "the best of all possible worlds." The evils and tragedies that Voltaire recorded, such as the Lisbon earthquake, seem to cast doubt on the goodness or the power of optimism, and ultimately, of God. That God allows imperfection and evil to exist is not necessarily evidence of weakness, however. Perhaps God uses trials for purposes we mortals do not understand. At any rate, ours does not have to be the best of all possible worlds to have been God-created, and by optimism we are more likely to bring about positive social change.Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07015225243245790940noreply@blogger.com