The world is the best of all possible worlds, and everything in it is a necessary evil.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A philosophical stance suggesting the current world is optimal despite containing necessary evils.
- In plain terms
- The world is the best it can be, even though some bad things are needed.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept that some evils are necessary parts of the best possible world.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is this world the best it can be?
- What evils are truly necessary?
Another view
This view can justify inaction against preventable suffering.
More from F. H. Bradley
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct; but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.
Permalink to quote #2 Eclecticism. Every truth is so true that any truth must be false.
Permalink to quote #3 The one self-knowledge worth having is to know one's own mind.
Permalink to quote #4
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