Episode
Lesson 2.2: The Problem of Evil, Pt. II
- Podcast
- The Luxury of Virtue
- Published
- May 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4515
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://zencastr.com/z/i_OuNXyJ
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Summary
When the world looks cruel, every defense of God becomes a theory of human nature. Topics Discussed * The problem of evil argument and the two main ways to resist it: reject premise 1 or reject premise 2. * Leibniz's "best of all possible worlds" theodicy, including its psychological promise of consolation and its ethical demand for active striving. * Voltaire's mockery of Leibniz after the Lisbon earthquake, especially the charge that "the best of all possible worlds" sounds absurd in the face of real suffering. * Other responses to the problem of evil: deism, the devil, free will, evil as a counterpart to good, the soul-making defense, and skepticism about whether we can prove that unnecessary suffering exists. * The connection between theology and moral psychology in Hobbes, Leibniz, and Spinoza: whether people need religion, political authority, or freedom from superstition in order to live well.