Defending Optimistic Determinism:

• Pangloss's Version of Optimistic Determinism: 
  
  • Leibniz argues that the universe is designed, and Voltaire responds, "That is like saying that noses were made for spectacles."  
  • "One feels how ridiculous it would be to maintain that nature had worked from all time in order to adjust herself to the inventions of our arbitrary arts, which appeared so late; but it is quite evident that if noses were not made for spectacles, they were for smelling, and that there have been noses ever since there have been men."  (Voltaire, "On Final Causes" )
  • What is Voltaire's point? You can't justify the existence of God simply by asserting that reason illuminates certain aspects of a universe whose true proportions exceed human understanding.

• Leibniz' Theodicy (1719) and The Argument According to Design:

• Anyone who thinks God could have made the world better and did not, thinks God is not as good as he could be.
• Leibniz argues that God did the best he could with the physical materials of matter and the structure of reality. Any other potential universe would have been worse. Therefore, God is benevolent and omnipotent. 
• Proof that the universe was designed by a creator is abundant. 
• Consider the structure of our hands or our eyes. Intricate design requires a designer. - The mere fact that the physical properties of the universe can be grasped by human reason is further evidence of the existence of a creator.
• Moral evil is the crime for which natural evil is the certain and inevitable punishment. The causal links between sin and suffering will become clearer in  time through our application of reason to the mysterious physical properties of the universe.
• As we do so, we will reduce the chaos and suffering caused by our sins.

• The Christian Explanation for Evil: Original Sin
  
  • Natural Evil is the direct result of Human Evil.
  • Job is the question and Jesus is the answer. Rather than renounce his faith in God, Job demands that God explain why bad things happen to good people. God's answer is Jesus sacrifice: God himself took on as cruel a punishment as any human ever suffered, made all the crueler by his utter innocence, yet still he offers redemption.
  • Would Voltaire agree?
• Bayle's Challenge: Manichaeism (1695)
  
  • Can there be any justice in sending people to hell, eternal and infinite suffering?
  • What about unbaptized infants? Should they go to hell too?
  • Bayle could not believe in such a God, so he came to the conclusion that there must be at least two gods: one good and one bad. Our God remains benevolent, but he is no longer omnipotent.

• "Whatever is, is right!" (Pope's Real Point of View)

• The Enlightenment Project (Julius Lecture Notes)
  • Natural laws are discoverable through the use of the scientific method.
  • We are born with an innate rational ability which, if properly trained, enables us to develop a moral sense.
  • If we fit our political and economic systems to the appropriate natural laws and if we fit our legal system to our moral values, then progress is possible towards a better world.