Din ve Bilim Muş Alparslan Üniversitesi İslami İlimler Fakültesi Dergisi (Jun 2023)
Spinoza and Letters on Evil
Abstract
The letter is a communication tool used by many thinkers and scientists. It is generally written to disseminate ideas, criticize, and open discussion. The tradition of philosophizing with letters is a method and a form of philosophical discourse widely used by Muslim and Western philosophers. It is known that the letters written by philosophers in previous periods are public documents that are read and discussed not only by their correspondents but also by those concerned. The reason why this is so is the widespread use of ideas at that time. In particular, it can be said that letters written in the 17th century serve the function of scientific-academic articles today. The 'Letters on Evil' is the name given to the eight letters Spinoza exchanged between 1664 and 1665, containing discussions with Willem van Blyenbergh on the issue of evil. This name was given by Gilles Deleuze. The most fundamental discussion in these letters is the problem of evil. These letters are texts in which Spinoza deals with the problem of evil and other related issues and evaluates different solutions. In these letters, Spinoza and Blyenbergh discuss major issues in relation to the issue of evil, such as God's creation and contribution, the nature of will and actions, the nature and source of evil, the structure of the Bible, lack, and perfection. Offering a different perspective, Spinoza used the concepts used by theism while evaluating these issues but attributed new meanings to them. In the face of Spinoza's new and different explanations, Blyenbergh repeatedly asked the subjects he had difficulty in understanding in each of his letters. Although the first letters started with very good wishes, the expressions in the following letters became harsh, and in the last letter, Spinoza firmly declared that he would end his letters, believing that they could not come to an agreement. Although Blyenbergh was described as ignorant and bigoted by Spinozists, some researchers claimed that he was not ignorant, on the contrary, he asked very important questions to Spinoza, even unanswered. Although these letters written about evil gave Spinoza's thoughts on the subject in a limited way, it can be said that the only text in which his discussions on the problem of evil are together is the "Letters on Evil". For Spinoza, evil is an illusion and a product of the human mind, and it is neither a situation in which God's will can be spoken of nor an act for which man is morally responsible. Although the fact that evil is unreal or an illusion has an attractive side, it can be said that this claim does not offer a solution when the moral responsibility of human beings and their efforts to make sense of life is considered. As a matter of fact, it can be claimed that it is against our intuition to say that there are many evils we witness, and pain and sorrow as a result, even in the universe or in our environment. It can be argued that characterizing and ignoring evil as a rational being provides an explanation rather than a solution to the problem of evil, which is the main problem of the philosophy of religion. His views on God's will and human freedom in particular offer a new and different approach for that period. It can be seen that this approach is against theological traditions and is open to discussion. In Spinoza's thought, everything necessarily occurs in the order of God or Nature.
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