
Greek philosopher Epicurus on the so-called problem of evil.

Greek philosopher Epicurus on the so-called problem of evil.

In philosophy, problem of evil is the question of how, in religious or anthropomorphic speak, to explain the existence of evil in a universe governed by an all-powerful deity, in religious speak; or, in chemical thermodynamically neutral terms, how to account for the existence of unnaturalness and unnatural processes and reactions in the context of a universe governed by (non-deified) power, or directions of differential changes in energy or work per unit time of systems.

Overview
The statement of the “problem of evil” is attributed to Greek atomic theorist Epicurus.

Leibniz
In 1710, German polymath Gottfried Leibniz, in his Theodicy, put forward the so-called optimistic solution to the so-called problem of evil, namely that this is the best of both possible worlds. [1]

In 1759, Voltaire penned his satirical Candice, a parody of Leibniz’s problem of evil solution, the key section being the following:

“Appalled, stupefied, distraught, covered in blood and shaking uncontrollably, Candice said to himself: ‘If this is the best of all possible worlds, what must the others be like?’”

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer later commented the following: [2]

“I cannot assign to the Theodicy any other merit than that it gave rise to the immortal Candice of the great Voltaire. In this way, of course, Leibniz’s oft-repeated and lame excuse for the evil of the world, namely that the bad sometimes produces the good, obtained proof that for him was unexpected.”

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In 1710, German polymath Gottfried Leibniz posited a solution to the problem of evil; in 2011, American polyintellect Libb Thims solved the problem, in outline, via use of free energy coupling theory, per Fritz Lipmann.

In 1710, German polymath Gottfried Leibniz posited a solution to the problem of evil; in 2011, American polyintellect Libb Thims solved the problem, in outline, via use of free energy coupling theory, per Fritz Lipmann.

Thims
In circa 2004, Chinese-born American philosopher Lawrence Chin published his “Power, the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Problem of Evil”. [3]

In 2005, following discussion with and review of Chin on his thermodynamics of evil theories, American electrochemical engineer Libb Thims published “Evil, Structural Stability, and Predisposed Movements.” [4]

In 2011, Thims solved the great problem of evil (see: atheism timeline), per the assertion that the existence of "unnaturalness", i.e. evil (in religio-mythology speak), in a godless universe, is the product or rather aspect of thermodynamic coupling, per the following logic:

(a) A person is large multi-element reactive animated molecule (human molecule).
(b) So-called "good" actions, or rather "natural" actions, are governed by the Lewis inequality for
a natural process (dG < 0)
(c) So-called "bad" (or evil) actions, or rather "unnatural" actions, are governed by the Lewis
inequality for an unnatural process (dG > 0)
(d) Both natural and unnatural processes are thermodynamically "coupled" together, such that
natural processes energetically drive the unnatural processes and that some reactions will
progress in a direction contrary to that prescribed by their own affinity.

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References
1. (a) Leibniz, Gottfried. (1710). Theodicy. Publisher.
(b) Leibniz, Gottfried. (1734). Essay on Man. Publisher.
2. Jorgensen, Larry M. and Newlands, Samuel. (2014). “Introduction”, in: New Essays on Leibniz’s Theodicy (pg. 4). Oxford University Press.
3. Chin, Lawrence C.L. (2006). A Thermodynamic Interpretation of History (ch. 10: “Power, the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Problem of Evil”). GeoCities publication.
4. Thims, Libb. (2005). “Evil, Structural Stability, and Predisposed Movements”, Journal of Human Thermodynamics, 1(1): 1-12, Aug.
5. Thims, Libb. (2011). “Thermodynamic Proof that Good Always Triumphs over Evil”, Journal of Human Thermodynamics, 7: 1-4.

External links
● Problem of evil – Wikipedia.