Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
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Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hanover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer. Voltaire lampooned Leibniz's optimism in his comic novel Candide.
Theodicy and optimism
The Théodicée tries to justify the apparent imperfections of the world by claiming that it is optimal among all possible worlds. It must be the best possible and most balanced world, because it was created by a perfect God.
The statement that "we live in the best of all possible worlds" drew scorn, most notably from Voltaire, who lampooned it in his comic novel Candide by having the character Dr. Pangloss (a parody of Leibniz) repeat it like a mantra. Thus the adjective "panglossian", describing one so naive as to believe that the world about us is the best possible one.
