Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil

by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

"Theodicy" by Freiherr von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is a philosophical work published in 1710. Leibniz confronts Pierre Bayle's arguments that no rational explanation exists for why God permits evil. He proposes that an infinitely perfect God must have created "the best of all possible worlds," with the greatest balance of good over evil. Distinguishing between moral, physical, and metaphysical evil, Leibniz defends divine goodness, justice, and freedom while reconciling human free will with God's foreknowledge.