On the Benevolence of the Cosmos

Last updated on 2024-11-14

I don't think of God or the world as being perfect or imperfect. If God and "the world" are the same and there's only one world, how can we talk about either being perfect or imperfect. That would mean that there is another God or another world that we can compare our God or our world to and say that ours are perfect or imperfect.

I think the better lens to look at God and the cosmos through is one of benevolence. No entity would act in a way that isn't benevolent towards itself (given it was acting rationally) so God and the cosmos being rational entities would be benevolent towards themselves and humans—as constituent parts of God and the cosmos—must benefit the larger whole and the larger whole must want to benefit us as much as possible.

The worst atrocities mankind has seen appear bad at a micro level but at a macro level they have the function of opening our eyes to what can happen when we make poor judgments. If we collectively constitute God and the Cosmos, then God wouldn't want us to harm each other. So I always try to remember that because we lack perfect knowledge and can't know the telos of the Cosmos, the best we can do is make the best possible judgments and try to benefit each other and the Cosmos as a whole.