Book ID: CBB685775094

The Best of All Possible Worlds: A Story of Philosophers, God, and Evil (2008)

unapi

Nadler, Steven M. (Author)


Farrar, Straus & Giroux


Publication Date: 2008
Physical Details: 300 pp.
Language: English

In the spring of 1672, the German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz arrived in Paris on a furtive diplomatic mission. That project was abandoned quickly, but Leibniz remained in Paris with a singular goal: to get the most out of the city’s intellectual and cultural riches. He benefited, above all, from his friendships with France’s two greatest philosopher-theologians of the period, Antoine Arnauld and Nicolas de Malebranche. The interactions of these three men would prove of great consequence not only for Leibniz’s own philosophy but for the development of modern philosophical and religious thought. Despite their wildly different views and personalities, the three philosophers shared a single, passionate concern: resolving the problem of evil. Why is it that, in a world created by an allpowerful, all-wise, and infinitely just God, there is sin and suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people, and good things to bad people? This is the story of a clash between radically divergent worldviews. But it is also a very personal story. At its heart are the dramatic—and often turbulent—relationships between three brilliant and resolute individuals. In this lively and engaging book, Steven Nadler brings to life a debate that obsessed its participants, captivated European intellectuals, and continues to inform our ways of thinking about God, morality, and the world.

...More
Reviewed By

Essay Review Emanuela Scribano (2010) Attorno a Steven Nadler. Galilæana: Journal of Galilean Studies (pp. 261-276). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB685775094/

Similar Citations

Essay Review Emanuela Scribano; (2010)
Attorno a Steven Nadler (/isis/citation/CBB973333595/)

Article Giuliano Gasparri; (2019)
La messa all’Indice delle opere di Henry More (1695-1697) (/isis/citation/CBB173169434/)

Article Margherita Palumbo; (2006)
Il 'lodevole artificio'. Trattati mnemotecnici nella biblioteca privata leibniziana (/isis/citation/CBB403601884/)

Book Granada, Miguel A.; (2001)
Cosmología, teología y religión en la obra y en el proceso de Giordano Bruno (/isis/citation/CBB000101281/)

Book Perkins, Franklin; (2004)
Leibniz and China: A Commerce of Light (/isis/citation/CBB000410696/)

Article Teske, Roland J.; (2000)
The Heaven of Heaven and the Unity of St. Augustine's Confessions (/isis/citation/CBB000111336/)

Chapter Look, Brandon; (2009)
Leibniz and Locke on Real and Nominal Essences (/isis/citation/CBB001021839/)

Chapter Garber, Daniel; (2009)
Leibniz, Theology and the Mechanical Philosophy (/isis/citation/CBB001021830/)

Book Alexandrescu, Vlad; (2009)
Branching Off: The Early Moderns in Quest of the Unity of Knowledge (/isis/citation/CBB001021823/)

Book Paolo Zellini; (1999)
Gnomon. Una indagine sul numero (/isis/citation/CBB253354203/)

Book Justin E. H. Smith; (2015)
Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference: Race in Early Modern Philosophy (/isis/citation/CBB092443917/)

Article Giuliano Gasparri; (2020)
Documenti sulla messa all’Indice delle opere di Henry More (1698-1703) (/isis/citation/CBB999325227/)

Thesis Martel, Heather Elaine; (2001)
Christianizing the soul, disembodying science, Americanizing the flesh, 1498-1627 (/isis/citation/CBB001562620/)

Book Alexandrescu, Vlad; Theis, Robert; (2010)
Nature et surnaturel: Philosophies de la nature et métaphysique aux XVIe--XVIIIe siècles (/isis/citation/CBB001023213/)

Chapter Candida Carella; (2016)
All'ombra del rogo. Riferimenti bruniani nella Roma degli inizi del Seicento (/isis/citation/CBB167882046/)

Article Guardo, Federico; (2007)
Il concetto di entusiasmo nel platonismo di Cambridge (/isis/citation/CBB000933328/)

Book Michael Jacovides; (2017)
Locke's Image of the World (/isis/citation/CBB038240095/)

Authors & Contributors
Gasparri, Giuliano
Generali, Dario
Alexandrescu, Vlad
Carella, Candida
Jacovides, Michael
Zellini, Paolo
Concepts
Philosophy
Philosophy and religion
Science and religion
Western world, civilization and culture
Natural philosophy
Philosophy of science
Time Periods
17th century
18th century
16th century
Renaissance
Medieval
21st century
Places
Europe
Italy
Germany
China
Rome (Italy)
Mesopotamia
Institutions
School of Milan
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment