Topics Philosophers

Question What are the names of some respected philosophers or schools of thought that believe things are as they should be in the sense that much of what we consider to be bad is in fact of value to life when considered in a larger context?

Accepted:
October 31, 2007

Comments

I suppose the obvious person to think of here is Leibniz, cruelly mocked by Voltaire in Candide for arguing that this is the best of all possible worlds, if he did argue in such a manner, that is. But a large number of philosophers, especially in the philosophy of religion, have found explanations for apparent imperfections in fact making up a bigger and greater overall perfection, and here we should include Spinoza. It is not actually implausible since we do only have access to a small part of the whole, and what we perceive may not give us a good idea of everything, so why should we think that instances that appear bad mean that everything is bad? It would be like arguing that since cars occasionally stop, their main function is actually to be still.

Question What are the names of some respected philosophers or schools of thought that believe things are as they should be in the sense that much of what we consider to be bad is in fact of value to life when considered in a larger context? Accepted:October 31, 2007

Question What are the names of some respected philosophers or schools of thought that believe things are as they should be in the sense that much of what we consider to be bad is in fact of value to life when considered in a larger context?

Accepted:
October 31, 2007