1. Class 21: Modern Theodicy
Dr. Ann T. Orlando
16 March 2018

2. Introduction Thomas Hobbes Pierre Bayle Gottfried Leibnitz Voltaire
David Hume
Twentieth Century successors
New Orders

3. Despair of knowing Pierre Bayle (1647-1706)
Huguenot
His Historical and Critical Dictionary was single most popular work in 18th C
David Hume ( ) Dialog Concerning Natural Religion
Published after his death
Attacks both religion and science (i.e., attacks deism)
Severe attack against Intelligent Design
Skepticism is the only acceptable intellectual stance
Voltaire, Lisbon Earthquake Poem
Voltaire starts as a deist, becomes an atheist and a skeptic
Deeply connected with skepticism was problem of evil and theodicy (a term invented by Leibniz in opposition to Bayle)

4. Thomas Hobbes ( )
Born in England, connected to Royalist opposition to Cromwell
Spent time in exile in Paris
A nominalist, empiricist, and materialist, ultimately becoming a skeptic
Believed that all was material
Mind as only computing matter (opposed to Descartes)
Language is merely signification for the purposes of communication, not linked to actual truth of things
Political philosophy of defense and survival: Human life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”

5. Early Modern Wrestling with Evil: Pierre Bayle (1647-1706)
Hugonaut
Pierre Bayle wrote one of the first modern Dictionaries
His Dictionary was the most widely read book in the 18th C; having enormous influence on philosophes.
Voltaire’s Dictionary
Diderot’s Encyclopedia
Bayle was pessimistic about a solution to the theodicy problem
Raised objection to all solutions, including Manichees (2 gods), Plotinus (evil does not exist) and Epicurean (God does not exist)
Like Hobbes, pessimistic about human nature; more evil than good in the world
Usually considered one of the first early modern skeptics

6. Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716) Born into a prominent Lutheran family
Studied Church Fathers, ancient history and scholastic theology
Desperately wanted to reconcile Lutheran and Catholic theologies through philosophy
Made original and brilliant contributions to
Mathematics (calculus)
Physics
Logic
German jurisprudence
Philosophy
Metaphysics

7. Some Principles of Leibniz’s Philosophy
Opposed to materialism and atheism (Epicureanism of Hobbes)
God always acts for the best
Thus we must live in the best world
Nothing happens without a reason or cause
Although we may not know the reason, and see only the effect
All substances are interconnected, even if we cannot know those connections
These connections, past present and future, are contained within each substance
Each substance thus is a ‘mirror’ of the entire universe
The universe was created in and remains in harmony
Body and mind each follows their own laws, but are synchronized through universal harmony
Body subject to efficient causes
Mind to final causes
Mind (soul) has innate ideas based on universal harmony
Note, only about half of Leibniz’s works have been published; the only book he published during his lifetime was Theodicy

8. Leibniz and Theodicy Written as a reply to Bayle in 1710
How can this be the best world when there is evil, when people are unhappy
Leibniz answer: earthly happiness of every individual may not be the right way to judge ‘best’
God creates limited things which taken in aggregate reflect God’s perfection.
But this implies that individual things may suffer some evil or suffering due to their limitations
Limitations as a type of privation
In other words, Leibniz brings Augustine into the 17th C

9. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) and Optimism
Cease then, nor order imperfection name: Our proper bliss depends on what we blame. Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree Of blindness, weakness, Heav'n bestows on thee. Submit. In this, or any other sphere, Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear: Safe in the hand of one disposing pow'r, Or in the natal, or the mortal hour. All nature is but art, unknown to thee; All chance, direction, which thou canst not see; All discord, harmony not understood; All partial evil, universal good. And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite, One truth is clear, 'Whatever is, is right.'

10. Lisbon Earthquake and Voltaire
Crushing earthquake on All Saints Day, 1755
Resulting fires and tsunami destroy most of Lisbon
Profoundly raises the question of natural evil and human suffering
Voltaire writes his poem to refute Leibniz and Pope, using the Lisbon earthquake suffering as his primary example
See Rousseau reply to Voltaire,

11. David Hume (1711-1776) Also wrote against miracles
Dialog Concerning Natural Religion
Published after his death
Attacks both religion and science (i.e., attacks deism)
Severe attack against Intelligent Design
Skepticism is the only acceptable intellectual stance
Also wrote against miracles

12. The Shoah Human moral evil on an unprecedented scale
An event in human history that has been documented and reported in detail
How could this happen in the most ‘enlightened’ and scientific country in Europe?
Either ‘proof’ that God does not exist, or that the Enlightenment is a false philosophy, or both

13. Albert Camus (1913-1960) Born in North Africa
Wrote doctoral thesis on Augustine and Neoplatonism
Fought in French resistance against Nazis
Evil exists, but God does not

14. The Plague Evil is real, God is not
Main character, a doctor (atheist), narrates the story as an objective observer
One of key figures is a priest, Augustinian scholar
Pivotal moment: death of a child
Neither religion nor science can relieve pain
Near end, doctor and mother stare out the window and see…nothing
Hero of story continually asks, without answer from doctor, ‘how can I be a saint without God?’

15. John Hick (1922 - 2012) Conscientious objector during WWII in Britain
Studied philosophy after the War, especially Kant
Concerned with real as opposed to counterfeit religious experiences (Faith and Knowledge)
Ultimate Divine cannot be known in the world
Valid religious experience is determined by long-term effect on believer
Both God and evil exist

16. Evil and the God of Love
Detailed examination of Augustine on evil and the impact of Augustine’s thought
Aquinas
Calvin
Leibniz
Given the reality of evil, a questioning of the privation model
Hick Suggests an ‘Irenaean” approach
Man always learning and moving forward
Read his criticism of Augustine (and Leibniz), Chapter VIII

17. Catholic Response: Missions within Europe and New Orders
Vincentians
Founded by St. Vincent de Paul ( )
Preach missions within Europe, especially France
Educate laity and clergy
Sulpicians
Founded by Jacques Olier ( ), a disciple of St. Vincent de Paul
Formed to revive seminary life, especially spirituality
Encouraged parish missions
Passionists
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross ( )
Peach missions in Spain and Portugal
Redemptorists
St. Alfonse Liguori ( )
Missions within Italy

18. Assignments
1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Chapters XIII, XIV, available at
2. Leibniz, Summary of the Controversy Reduced to Formal Argument, in Theodicy, trans. E.M. Huggard, La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, 1985, pp Available at (First Appendix)
3. Voltaire Lisbon Earthquake in The Portable Voltaire. In Paul Hyland. The Enlightenment, A Sourcebook and Reader. London: Routledge, p also avialable at