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Text B God and Evil A Positive View（第1页）

TextBGodandEvil:APositiveView

G。W。Leibniz

Pre-reading

GottfriedWilhelmvonLeibniz（1646-1716）wasothihe17thauriesandisknow“universalgenius”。Tothisdayheoccupiesapromihehistoryofmathematidthehistory。osedod，hesoulisofthemostsublimeeloquenphilosophy，Leibnizismostnotedforhisoptimism，i。e。histhatourUniverseis，iedsepossibleoGodcouldhavecreated，awasofteherssuchasVoltaire。Leibniz，alongwithReesandBaruoza，wasohreegreat17thturyadvocatesofrationalism。

Leibnizmadeanimportanttributiooryoftheontolument。Inshort，Leibniz’sargumentis:1）Godisabeinghaviions。2）Aperfeisasimpleandabsoluteproperty。3）Existenceisaperfe。4）Ifexisteoftheessehiisanecessarybeing。5）Ifitispossibleforanecessarybeihenanecessarybei。6）Itispossibleftohaveallperfes。7）Therefore，anecessarybeing（God）doesexist。

Fortheolument，Leibnizsaysthateveniihsortruthsoffacttheremustbeasuffitreasonwhytheyaresoandnototherwise。But，siiculartruthoffatiupoher（prior）truthoffact，thereasoireseriesoftruthsmustbelocatedoutsidetheseries，andthisultimatereasoniswhatwecallGod。LeibnizfillsoutthisargumentwithafasgatofthenatureofGod。SoheisabletodemoheuniquenessofGod，hisomendbehettioiherincipleofSuffitReason。

Promptsf

1。WhatdoestheauthorwahereaderaboutGodatthebeginning?

2。HowdoesLeibnizdefineevil?

&heexisteheertheexistenceofGod?

4。WhatdoesLeibnizsayabouttheafflien，espeen?

5。WhatisLeibniz’sopinionaboutthelossesabatheworld?

[1]ItfollowsfromthesupremeperfeofGodthatinprodugtheuhebestpossibleplan，gthegreatestvarietytogetherwiththegreatestorder;thebestarraioime;thegreatesteffectproducedbythesimplestmeapower，themostkhemosthappinessandgoodnessihingsofwhiiverseadmitted。ForasallpossiblethingshaveaclaimtoexisteandingofGodinproportiontotheirperfes，theresultofalltheseclaimsmustbethemostperfectactualworldwhichispossible。Otherwiseitwouldnotbepossibletoexplainwhythingshavehappeheyhaveratherthanotherwise。。。

[2]。。。Theultimatereasoybothofessendofexistenaunitymustlybegreater，higher，andpriortotheworlditself，sihroughitaloohings，whichtheworlds，butalsothethingsthatarepossiblehavetheirreality。Itotbefouinonesinglesource，becauseoftheiionofallthesethingswithoisevidentthatfromthissourtthiinuallyissuingandbeingprodudhavebeenproduotclearwhyoheworldratherthaerday’sstateratherthantoday’s，shouldflowfromtheworlditself。ItisalsoevidenthowGodalyphysicallybutalsofreely;andhowthereliesinHimnotobutalsothefinaldhowfromHimproceedsthereasonnotoencythatthereisinthemeismfortheuniverseasablished，butalsoofthegoodnessorwisdomiheestablishingofit。1

[3]Inaythinkthatmoralperfeoodnessisherebeihmetaphysical2perfereatness，andmayadmitthelatterwhiledenyingtheformer，itshouldbepoihatitfollowsfromwhathasbeensaidnotonlythattheworldisthemostperfectphysically，or，ifyoupreferit，metaphysically，orihatthatseriesofthingswillbefwhiactualfactaffreatestquantityofreality，butalsothattheworldshouldbethemostperfectmorally，becausetruemoralperfeisphysicalperfeindsthemselves。Heheworldisnotowonderfulmae，butalsardtomindsitisthebestoh，bywhosemeaowedonmipossibleamouyorjoyfulness;anditisinthisthattheirphysicalperfesists。

[4]But，youwillsay，wefiheveryoppositeofthis。Oftesfallupohei（Ispeaknotoes，butofmenalso）areafflidareslaiortures;iheworld，especiallyifwelookatthegoverhehumaherafusedanaffairordainedbysomesupremewisdom。Soitappearsatfirstsight，Iallow:butoionitmustbeagreedthattheoppositeisthecase。Itisevidentapriori4fromthoseveryprincipleswhichIhaveadduced5thatwithoutdoubtthereissetheworldthehighestperfethattherecouldpossiblybeofallthings，andthereforeofminds。

[5]Aisunreasohelawyerssay，togiveajudgmentwithoutiheehavekinypartofthateternitywhichstreteasurably。Forhowsmallathingisthememoryofthefewthousandyearswhichhistoryhandsdowntous!Aofsolittleexperiencewerashlymakejudgmentsabouttheimmeasurableaernal;justasmenwhohadbeenbornandbredinprisonorierra-mineshtthinkthattherewasihareacherousflickeroftorches，whichwashardlysuffittoguidetheirfootsteps。Lookatthemostlovelypidtheup，leavingunlyatinyscrapofit。Whatelsewillyouseethere，evenifyoulookascloselyaspossible，andthemoresoasyoulookfromnearerahand，butakindofedleyofcolors，withoutsele，withoutart!Awheheg，andlookuponthewholepitheproperplace，youwillseethatreviouslyseemedtoyoutohavebeenaimlesslysmearedonthevaslishedwiththehighestartbytheauthoroftheenstotheeyesinpaintingisequallyexperieheearsinmusic。Thegreatposersfrequentlyminglediscordswithharmoniouschordssothatthelisteedawere，andmaybeeeagertoknowwhatisgoingtohappelywhenallisrestoredtoorderhefeelssomuchthemoret。Inthesameleasureinsmalldangers，orintheexperienceofills，fromtheverysenseorprooftheygiveusofourownpowerorfelicity。aiacleofrope-walkingwearedelightedbytheverytoffearthatisinvolved，andweourselvesinplaywithholdthemasifweweregoingtothrowthemoutofthewindow，ahemgo—ihesameecarried，KingofDenmark，wheillaninfantedinloheedgeoftheroof，andthen，wheneverybodywasiurojestandputhimbatohiscradlesafeandsound。Onthesameprihasaniifwealwayseatsweetthings;sharp，adevehingsshouldbemixedintostimulatethetaste。Hewhohasisbitterhasissweet，norreciateit。Thisistheverylawofepositivepleasuredoesnotanevehingsproduess，andmakemendull，notjoyful。

[6]WhatIhavesaid，however，aboutthepossibilitydisturbedwithoutupsettingtheharmonyofthewholemusterpretedtomeanthatnoatistakes;orthatitissuffitforthewholeworldtobepletedatallpoihoughitshouldturnoutthatthehumadthattherewasintheuniverseioatwastakenofus—asismaintainedbysomepeoplewhosejudgmentaboutthesumofthingsisill-grouhetruthisthat，justasinawell-regulatedohcareistakenthatasfaraspossiblethingsshallbetotheiheindividual，iheuniversewouldnotbesuffitlyperfeless，asfarasewithoutupsettingtheuniversalharmony，thegoodofindividualpeopleissidered。Ofthistherecouldbeestablishedermeasurethantheverylawofjusticeitself，whichdictatesthateachshouldhaveapartiionoftheuniverseandinhisoinessinproportiontohisowheextenttowhichhiswillisdirectedtowardstheongood，bywhichisfulfilledwhatwecallthedloveofGod，inwhie，agtothejudgmeheologiansalso，standsthewholefordpowerofthereligihtittoseemremarkablethatallthisdeference7shouldbepaidtomindsintheuheybeartheclosestresemblaheimageofthesupremeAuthor，aiontoHimisnotthatofmaestotheirartificer（liketherestoftheworld）butratherthatofstotheirpriheywillendureaslongastheuself，andthey，insomemanner，expressahewholeinthemselves;sothatitmightbesaidthatmindsare>

[7]Asfortheafflien，andespeeholdourselves

assuredthattheytributetoodofthosewhosufferthem;andthisistruenotonlytheologically，butphysicallyalso，justasagraiisufferbeforeitbearsfruit。Aistruetosaythatafflisareforthetimebeiigood，siheyareshortcutstoagreaterperfeilarlyinphysicstheliquidswhitslowlyarealsomoreslowlypurified，whereasthoseinwhichthereisamoreviolentdisturbahrowoffthefreaterfororequiepure。Youmightfairlysaythatthisisacaseoftakingastepbaakeastrongerleapforward。Thesethingsmustbeallowedtobenotoandg，butalsomosttrue。IndeedingeneralIholdthatthereisnothihanhappiness，andnothinghappieraruth。

[8]Further，werealizethatthereisaperpetualandamressofthewhole

universeinfulfillmentoftheuniversalbeautyaionod，sothatitisalwaysadvangtreaterdevelopment。Thus，evenofourearthhasreceivedcultivation，amoreahoughitistruethattherearetimeswhesofitgobati，oraredestroyedagainahismustbeuoodinthesamesenseasIjusthemeaningofaffliely，thatthisverydestrudoppressiontributestoaethihatinsomewaywereourveryloss。

[9]Totheobjeayperhapsbeofferedthatifthisweresotheworldwouldlongagohavebeeaparadise，theahand:althoughmanysubstanceshavealreadyetogreatperfe，yetowiedivisibilityofwhatisuous，therealwaysremainintheabyssofthingspartsthatareasleep，aobeawakeobedrivenforwardihiter—inaword，toabetterdevelopmehisprogressdoesoanend。

Notes

1。ItisalsoevidenthowGodalyphysicallybutalsofreely;andhowthereliesinHimnotobutalsothefinaldhowfromHimproceedsthereasonnotoencythatthereisinthemeismfortheuniverseasablished，butalsoofthegoodnessorwisdomiheestablishingofit。同样明显的是，上帝不仅按照自然法则行动，而且还自由地行动，从上帝那儿不仅可以找到直接原因，而且还可以找到最终原因；上帝不仅是现存的宇宙机制巨大力量的源泉，而且还是建立这一机制的行动所涉及的仁慈和智慧的源泉。

&aphysical:形而上学的