Essais de Theodicée sur la Bonté de Dieu, la Liberté de l'Homme, et l'Origine du Mal... Nouvelle Édition, Augmentée de l'Histoire de la Vie & des Ouvrages de l'Auteur, par M.L. De Neufville (Pseudonym)
Amsterdam: Francois Changuion, 1734. Hardcover. Very Good. Item #43490
Two volumes in one.12mo. Pp. [iv], 245, [1], [2] blank leaf, v-xxxxix, 150; [ii], 375, [1] blank, [12] index. Engraved title vignettes by B. Picart, woodcut ornaments and initials, folding table (vol. II, p. 377-8). Bound in later (eighteenth century) half calf over plain paper boards, ornately gilt spine in compartments between raised bands, red morocco label, marbled endpapers, red stained edges. Extremities a bit rubbed, covers a little bowed, but overall a nice clean, crisp copy. First published in Amsterdam in 1710, this new edition contains the valuable Life of Leibniz and bibliography of his works by Louis de Jaucourt [1704-1779]. Leibniz's "Essais de Theodicée" was the only substantial philosophical work to be published in his lifetime. Although the problem of evil had occupied philosophers from early times, Leibniz was the first to coin the term "theodicy" to describe the task of defending the goodness and omnipotence of God in the face of the existence of evil. His "Essay on Theodicy" was written in response to Pierre Bayle's [1647-1706] assertion that the existence of evil in the world is incompatible with a benevolent and omnipotent God. Leibniz, who regarded the world as the best of all possible worlds, argued that evil provides a necessary contrast in order to highlight the beauty and harmony of the whole. His optimistic view, though brilliantly satirised by Voltaire in "Candide", was shared by many thinkers of the Enlightenment and his ideas contributed greatly to the foundations of 18th-century rationalism. Graesse IV 152. Brunet III 950. Ravier 396. Cf. PMM 177.
Price (CAD): $850.00