Theodicy in Leibniz and Kant

It occupied the minds of thinkers in the antiquity as well that the evil exists on earth despite a benevolent God. The problem of evil, having originated from the ancient Greek philosophy, has been a subject of discussion for Christian and Muslim thinkers as well. The same problem also caught the attention of Leibniz at a young age. When we examine his philosophy, it is plain that the two main elements that stand out are the question of substances and the problem of evil. Likewise, the concept of monads, which Leibniz introduced towards the end of the 17th century, was not only a severe criticism of Cartesianism but it also extended into the area of the nature of evil and sin, which was at that time one of the many topics of discussion between the Catholic and Protestant sects. The progress of history was not in favour of the Leibnizian philosophy and the criticism towards Leibniz were not aimed at his teaching of the monads but instead at an extension of it, namely 'the best of all possibles'. Immanuel Kant, who was closely familiarized with the Leibnizian philosophy due to his education, had to write articles about evil and God's grace at the beginning of his career for the historical events that took place called for them. Kant had a tendency to Leibnizian way of thinking at first but this was replaced with an authentic philosophy as his own philosophy matured. Kant's view of the Leibnizian philosophy, the criticism he directed at it, and the way he rid himself of the Leibnizian theodicy in order to come up with an answer to the problem of evil which is in accord with his own philosophy serves well for the purpose of achieving a critical point of view of Leibniz's philosophy. Also, Kant's own understanding of theodicy is in itself important with regards to shedding light upon what is philosophy's one of the deepest rooted problems. Keywords: Problem of Evil, God's Grace, Theodicy, Leibnizian Theodicy, Kantian Theodicy.