The "Best of All Possible Worlds"
…is an interesting thought experiment. Formulated by Leibniz, the original line of reasoning follows an appeal to the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-benevolent God and the reconciliation of such an idea with the ‘Problem of Evil’ (Hume puts the problem as such: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?). If this reality is in actuality the “best” possible somehow, then God can actually be all three positive traits at the same time without breaking the rules of reasoning.
However, it is very hard for those of us of basic morality to accept the premise that children dying of cancer is “necessary” in the “best possible world”. Why does there seem to be so much unnecessary suffering around us? Why October 7th? Why the Holocaust? Or the Holodomor? Or the Cambodian Killing Fields? Or the Black Plague? Or Tuberculosis?
I would never for a second claim any of the above to be “necessary” in order to shuffle us into some sort of “divine plan”. Leibniz had a stronger stomach than I for atrocity, suffering, and human barbarity. And actually this point of view was lampooned quite on the nose by Voltaire in Candide, a novel well worth the read. Any and all sorts of tragedy can be “justified” by Master Pangloss because “all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”.
But I bring up Leibniz’s argument for a different reason than ridicule. Because though I do not in any way subscribe to the idea that “the ends justify the means” (and I think consequentialism and especially utilitarianism to be among the weakest of all moral philosophies), there remains the undeniable truth that unjust and undeserved suffering can yet sometimes be turned into a blossom of something more, something better, something beautiful even.
I think of the unity of the Israeli people in the face of their continual and utterly undeserved suffering. The courage and the ‘chutzpah’ of their youth as they fight a war they did not want and did not start; but you better believe that they will finish it. The art, the music that represents the pain of October 7th in a form that is tragically beautiful. And the people brought together across the world in support of the Jewish nation and people in their time of need.
Often, though, pain can sometimes be too much to find solace. And that is no fault of the sufferers. Often suffering and death seem to happen for no reason and bring only more of their own into being. It is a rare occasion that someone is able to see light from within the darkness and transform it into something resembling a ray of hope. But when it does happen, the good shines out the brighter for having gone through such pain and tragedy to do so.
Far be it from me to lecture those who bear the pain of October 7th to this very day. I could never and would never dare. Like many around the world who witnessed the horrific events of that day, I was not personally harmed nor were any of my friends, family, or loved ones. But it left scars on me all the same. The brutality was life-changing to bear witness to. And it may very well be that many survivors never fully recover what they lost.
This cannot be the best possible world. Because the best possible world would not have had an October 7th. But this is the world we live in. And we can make it the best possible world that did endure what we’ve endured and come out stronger in the end.
I beg of you, if you can, do not lose hope in a better tomorrow. The future is bright and full of love. We must endure the darkest to get there, but when we arrive: we shall know a world unmatched in compassion and care for our neighbors. Hatred will never win. Love—love conquers all.
🇮🇱 עם ישראל חי