Optimism and the Best Possible World: A Philosophical History

This volume presents original essays on the ideas of philosophical optimism and the best possible world. It highlights the historical and philosophical nuances of an idea that remains under-treated within the literature despite its long and influential history.

Optimism—broadly, the thesis that God does the best, or that this is the best possible world—is often associated with the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. However, there exists a rich tradition of philosophical optimism not on...