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Philosophers often link the concept of optimism with the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who held that we live in the best of all possible worlds, or that God created a physical universe that applies the laws of physics, a theodicy which Voltaire famously mocked in his satirical novel Candide. The philosophical pessimism of, for instance, Arthur Schopenhauer, provides an opposite pole to philosophical optimism
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Summary: http://trailfire.com/peony/trailview/35708
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1
Philosophers often link the concept of optimism with the name of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who held that we live in the best of all possible worlds, or that God created a physical universe that applies the laws of physics, a theodicy which Voltaire famously mocked in his satirical novel Candide. The philosophical pessimism of, for instance, Arthur Schopenhauer, provides an opposite pole to philosophical optimism
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On the surface, happiness, hope, and optimism appear to be three different terms for the same concept. But further research will show that they are three very different concepts. Although all three are generally thought of as positive, they each have different qualities. They are not interchangeable!
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Optimism (Latin optimus, best) may be understood as a metaphysical theory, or as an emotional disposition. The term became current in the early part of the eighteenth century to designate the Leibnizian doctrine that this is the best of all possible worlds.
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Just as it is good discipline to solve problems like the velocity of a car at a certain moment in time, it is also crucial to figure out what drives people to give us the very best that they have to offer. Ironically, Leibniz, one of the inventors of calculus, is also known for his philosophy of optimism. He was considered to be an inveterate optimist, asserting that we live "in the best of all possible worlds".
