Abstract

The question about how to conceive God's act of creation in a fashion compatible with Leibniz's own thought is in itself a cluster of complex and interrelated issues. I will discuss only three aspects of the issue: Leibniz's view of how God actually created the world, and within this and more specifically, his arguments to reject the «why-did-God-not-create-the-world-sooner» question as not applicable to this case, and the consequences of those arguments for the concept of time. I will argue that, given Leibniz's own view of creation and time, the question about why God did not create the world earlier or later is a legitimate one despite his explicit efforts in the opposite sense, and, furthermore, an answer to the question within Leibniz's thought would fall prey of fatal contradictions and inconsistencies