Abstract EN:

This study aims to explain the genesis and the foundations of the Theodicy of Leibniz, as well as emphasize the problems raised by a doctrine whose author is reluctant to call a science in its own right. The objective is to show the originality of an endeavour that brings up different disciplines (metaphysics, theology, jurisprudence, ethics), various types of discourse and argument (refutation, doctrinal explanation, argumentation based on the possible, the probable and presumption, reasoning that is a priori non-demonstrative), from a moral and religious viewpoint : God's enlightened love and the end of denominational divisions. The first section puts the question of evil and divine justice back into the context of the Leibnizian endeavour, begun in 1667, to rationalize law and theology, and focuses on the difficulties which remained unresolved in the Confessio philosophi. The second section shows how, and in what context, the Theodicy project takes shape an how the refutative discourse, which aims to minimize Bayle's objections, is elaborated on the basis of a theory of philosophical dispute. Finally, the third section considers the theoretical aspect of this doctrine without demonstration : the explanation of divine concourse (moral and physical), the origin and nature of evil, the liberty of man and the moral principle of his action in the world.