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Single Idea 19344
[filed under theme 28. God / A. Divine Nature / 6. Divine Morality / a. Divine morality
]
Full Idea
It is certain that God sets greater store by a man than a lion; nevertheless it can hardly be said with certainty that God prefers a single man in all respects to the whole of lion-kind.
Gist of Idea
God prefers men to lions, but might not exterminate lions to save one man
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (The Theodicy [1710], p.189), quoted by Franklin Perkins - Leibniz: Guide for the Perplexed 2.IV
Book Ref
Perkins,Franklin: 'Leibniz: Guide for the Perplexed' [Continuum 2007], p.51
A Reaction
Lovely problems arise when you guess at God's values! We have the same problem. Would you kill a poacher who was wiping out the last remaining lions? How many lions would you kill to save a human?
The
16 ideas
from 'The Theodicy'
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19437
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Prayers are useful, because God foresaw them in his great plan
[Leibniz]
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19337
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How can an all-good, wise and powerful being allow evil, sin and apparent injustice?
[Leibniz]
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19345
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Being confident of God's goodness, we disregard the apparent local evils in the visible world
[Leibniz]
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19325
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God is the first reason of things; our experiences are contingent, and contain no necessity
[Leibniz]
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19326
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God must be intelligible, to select the actual world from the possibilities
[Leibniz]
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19327
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The intelligent cause must be unique and all-perfect, to handle all the interconnected possibilities
[Leibniz]
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19346
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Most people facing death would happily re-live a similar life, with just a bit of variety
[Leibniz]
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19340
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Metaphysical evil is imperfection; physical evil is suffering; moral evil is sin
[Leibniz]
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19331
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Will is an inclination to pursue something good
[Leibniz]
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19367
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Saying we must will whatever we decide to will leads to an infinite regress
[Leibniz]
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19351
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Perfections of soul subordinate the body, but imperfections of soul submit to the body
[Leibniz]
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19344
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God prefers men to lions, but might not exterminate lions to save one man
[Leibniz]
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19335
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Reasonings have a natural ordering in God's understanding, but only a temporal order in ours
[Leibniz]
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19330
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If justice is arbitrary, or fixed but not observed, or not human justice, this undermines God
[Leibniz]
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19329
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The laws of physics are wonderful evidence of an intelligent and free being
[Leibniz]
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19366
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You can't assess moral actions without referring to the qualities of character that produce them
[Leibniz]
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