Content area
Full Text
SOPHIA (2009) 48:114
DOI 10.1007/s11841-008-0062-7
Ishtiyaque Haji
Published online: 6 July 2008# Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008
Abstract In this paper, I expose a conundrum regarding divine creation as Leibniz conceives of such creation. What energizes the conundrum is that the concept of omnibenevolenceconsequential omnibenevolencethat the Leibnizian argument for the view that the actual world is the best of all possible worlds presupposes, appears to sanction the conclusion that God has no practical reasons to create the actual world.
Keywords Best possible world . Consequentialism . Moral obligation . Optimal world . Omnibenevolence . Practical reason
A possible world is best if and only if its intrinsic value exceeds the intrinsic value of any other world. Leibnizs elegant argumentthe Creation Argumentfor the view that the actual world is best may be summarized in this way: Prior to creating or actualizing (the creatable parts of) any possible world, Gods essential omniscience guarantees that God knows the value of each world and so God knows which world is best. Existing in each possible world, His essential omnipotence ensures that in each such world, He can create the best. Finally, being essentially omnibenevolent, God prefers the best to all other possible worlds. As the actual world is Gods creation, it must be that this world is the best of all possible worlds. (Leibniz 1951) The principle of sufficient reasonon one rendition, the principle that for each contingent thing, there is some independent sufficient reason why it is as it is, rather than otherwisecommits Leibniz to the view that God must have had sufficient reason to create the actual world.1 I take this reason (or reasons) to be practical. Practical reasons are, roughly, reasons to have our desires and goals, and to do what might secure these goals. In this paper, I expose a conundrum regarding divine creation as Leibniz conceives of such creation. What energizes
1See, for e.g., (Leibniz 1975).
I. Haji (*)
Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, N.W., Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4e-mail: ihaji@ucalgary.ca
A Conundrum Concerning Creation
2 I. Haji
the conundrum is that the concept of omnibenevolenceconsequential omnibenevolence (C-Omnibenevolence for short)that the Creation Argument presupposes appears to sanction the paradoxical conclusion that God has no practical reasons to...