Thanksgiving, 2003. ש What Seems Bad May Be Good: Aquinas.

It seems Thomas Aquinas thought this is the best of all possible worlds, not an unreasonable position to take. He has a nice analogy for why I should not think things would be better if I were in charge and changed them to fit my way of thinking:

In the words of Augustine (Super. Gen. contr. Manich. i): "If an unskilled person enters the workshop of an artificer he sees in it many appliances of which he does not understand the use, and which, if he is a foolish fellow, he considers unnecessary. Moreover, should he carelessly fall into the fire, or wound himself with a sharp-edged tool, he is under the impression that many of the things there are hurtful; whereas the craftsman, knowing their use, laughs at his folly. And thus some people presume to find fault with many things in this world, through not seeing the reasons for their existence. For though not required for the furnishing of our house, these things are necessary for the perfection of the universe." (Aquinas, Summa, 72:1, "The work of the sixth day")
Just so, the diseases that afflict us, and even the mosquito, might be necessary for this to be the world we want.

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