God is all wise, all good, all powerful, he posited. Therefore, everything that exists or happens is with his consent. What He consents to must be good, because He is good; therefore evil doth not exist. Furthermore, happiness existed only as a contrast to unhappiness, and one could not exist without the other. Therefore, they balanced out: Since pain naturally and infallibly produces a pleasure in proportion to it, every individual creature must, in any state of life, have an equal quantity of each.
In his reflections, the author conveys the belief that God embodies ultimate wisdom, goodness, and power. He argues that everything occurring in the universe does so with God's approval, suggesting that all events and existence are inherently good due to God's nature. This perspective leads to the conclusion that evil cannot truly exist, as it would contradict the nature of a benevolent deity.
Additionally, happiness is viewed as dependent on unhappiness, implying that they coexist in a balanced manner. Pain is seen as an inevitable precursor to pleasure, indicating that individuals experience a consistent ratio of joy and suffering throughout their lives. This philosophical stance highlights the interconnectedness of opposites and the idea that contrasts define human experience.
