Author: Jakob Frohschammer

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-08-04

Total Pages: 24

ISBN-13: 9780364323359

Excerpt from Optimism and Pessimism, or the Problem of Evil We come now to the philosophical efforts to solve the problem of evil. Here our inquiries must be limited to the most important. Plato, notwithstanding his idealism, or rather because of it, was by no means an Optimist, at least in relation to this life. In his judg ment, the condition of the human race on earth was essentially one of punishment and suffering for sins committed in a former state of being. He vindicates the pre-existence and transmigration of souls, though in a more dignified form than this doctrine was held by the Hindoos in India. The sensuous body appeared to him as the prison of the soul, from which it is to be freed by death. Matter is not any true existence, but the nothing, that which is impervious to true knowledge, the irrational. But, notwithstanding all this, Plato is not to be regarded as a Pessimist. He does not limit human existence to this earthly life, but supposes it to continue, and therefore to be capable of higher perfection or likeness to what is divine. This is evident from the proofs of the soul's immortality which he puts into the mouth of Socrates. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.