Lucy Sheaf (KCL) - 2014-15 Students
lucy.sheaf@kcl.ac.uk

The role of love in Leibniz’s theodicy

Leibniz consistently construes justice as a form of love. The notion of love is thus central to his theodicy – his attempt to uphold the justice of God in the face of evil. My aim is to shed light on the question of whether Leibniz’s theodicy succeeds on its own terms. To this end I will examine the various strategies that he deploys to rebut the charge that the evils we endure provide good reason to doubt God’s love for us – the love on which divine justice is grounded.