the belief that everything was created at for a good purpose
Nature is created perfect
Clearly seen in Pope's essay
Leibiz's Theodicty
Justification of Imperfections in our world
How did evil come into this world?
God's creations are not wise/powerful
Religion cannot contradict philosophy
Faith cannot contradict reason
God cannot contradict himself
"Whatever is, is right"
Demonstrates that pope believes that whatever exist has some form of truth in it
Target of Pope's Satire
Scientists
Also against those that who attempted to use rationality to disprove god
Aristocrats
Diesm
the belief that in observation and reason of the natural world exists
sufficient proof that God is Real
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism
accompanied with the rejection of revelation and authority as a source of religious knowledge
Argument from design
This suggests that God designed the world in such a way that it included the possibility of evil, but that if rightly
perceived, we would understand that all of it works together for a greater good.
http://www3.dbu.edu/mitchell/popetheo.htm
The Problem of Evil
How can we reconcile the existence of evil with God?
God created imperfect beings who can make mistakes
Great Chain of Being
Derived from Plato and Aristote
Religious hierarchical system
God
Angels and Demons
Stars and Moon
Kings, Princes, Nobles, and Men
Wild Animals and Domesticated Animals
Trees and Plants
Stones, Metals, and Minerals
What methods does Pope use in his satire?
He does not actively attack the pompousness of British aristocracy in his time, he just makes it easy to
see how ridiculous the aristocrats were