Leibniz’s Moral Philosophy

Did Leibniz deserve the thrashing he received at the hands of Voltaire?

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I wrote recently about the Enlightenment comic-novella, Candide (1795), which has as its target the philosopher and polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) and his belief that, despite all its imperfections, this world is the best of all possible worlds.

According to the novella’s author Voltaire, Leibniz was absolutely off his rocker. Look around, says Voltaire. The world is full of misery: war, famine, poverty, terror, genocide, natural disaster. The “best” it most certainly is not.

Taken at face value, it is hard to disagree with Voltaire’s assessment. Indeed, it is a commonly heard refrain even now: whoever created the world really hated us.

But, in the interest of fairness, we should go deeper than the headline and assess the situation for ourselves. Never condemn without first looking at the receipts. So: what was Leibniz up to?

Our starting point is theology. Leibniz was a profoundly religious man, and his beliefs were predicated upon divinity and religious doctrine.

So not only did he believe there is a God, but he believed that God is benevolent and that he is all-powerful and all-knowing.