ABSTRACT
As the other chapters in this volume show, the seventeenth century was an especially vibrant period of philosophical reflection, ushering in novel accounts in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, natural science, philosophical theology, and even the methodology of philosophy itself. Many of these developments were shaped by a rich historical backdrop, and the same is true for the problem of evil. Philosophical reflections on evil in the form of Christian theodicies reached a high point in the late seventeenth century, but they weren’t produced in a vacuum. The goal of this chapter is to shed fresh light on the context and content of the most influential early modern discussions of evil.
