Best of all possible worlds

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The phrase "the best of all possible worlds" (French: le meilleur des mondes possibles) was coined by the German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz in his 1710 work Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu, la liberté de l'homme et l'origine du mal (Theodicy). It is the central argument in Leibniz's theodicy, or his attempt to solve the problem of evil.

Leibniz was concerned with the question of theodicy: how, if God is good and omnipotent, do we account for the suffering and injustice that exists in the world?

Historically, the question has been answered with all number of philosophical arguments determined to do one of two things: explain away evil, or reconcile evil with good.

If God is good and omnipotent, this world must be good, and in fact, this world is the best of all possible worlds. Imagine that all the world is made of good and evil. The best possible world would have the most good and the least evil. Courage is better than no courage. Yet without evil to challenge us there can be no courage. Since evil brings out the best aspects of mankind evil is regarded as necessary. So in creating this world God made some evil to make the best of all possible worlds.

Voltaire famously satirised this notion in his novel Candide, in which Leibniz is represented by the character Dr Pangloss, and indeed the idea fell almost entirely from favour with philosophers after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.