Up@dawn 2.0 (blogger)

Delight Springs

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Debating the value of God at a time of crisis: Leibniz vs Voltaire

Podcast for CBC.

"...Voltaire was a deist who believed God created the world but did not intervene in it. And Voltaire wrote Candide to ridicule the idea that God is somehow a source of consolation and hope in the face of terrible suffering. 


Instead of praying to God and wishing for the best, Voltaire wants us to do what we can to eliminate the evil around us. In the modern context, this would imply using earthquake-resistant materials when building a church or following public-health guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19, suggests Eric Palmer, professor of philosophy at Allegheny College.


Returning to Candide, Palmer tells us: "Pangloss often attempts to explain to a suffering character how their suffering is bound up with the good. Pangloss sees this as a form of consolation. Yet the suffering character is always bewildered by this alleged consolation and wonders why Pangloss doesn't just lift the rock off their broken leg!"


https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/debating-the-value-of-god-at-a-time-of-crisis-leibniz-vs-voltaire-1.5840471

No comments:

Post a Comment