An Essay on Man

Alexander Pope, a celebrated English author that lived from 1688 to 1744, wrote An Essay on Man to describe and validate the role of God and his placement of man in the Great Chain of Being to all of mankind. In the writing of An Essay on Man, Pope discusses the concept of theodicy and the role that disorder-- the byproduct of man's quest to dominate the chain and understand God's divine will-- plays in life, proving that evil must coexist alongside God's goodness in order for the earth, as a whole, to remain in motion. 

Pope states, essentially, that God knew what he was doing in the creation of the world and all of its inhabitants, from the tiniest microorganism all the way up to Himself. Man makes a fool of himself by questioning his part in the chain, making himself appear to be more god-like than he actually is, judging situations that he cannot possibly judge. The search for knowledge on why God did what he did creates chaos in the chain. Each link (or "being") on the chain contributes to the strength of the overall chain. If even one link were to be displaced, the chain would be rendered useless. 

So, it is to be understood that everything happens for a reason, and God's reason, at that. Man is placed where he is because of his command of the faculties of desire and judgment, faculties which animals and lesser organisms are not able to use, yet the human brain is such a fickle thing that the balance between desire and judgment are often thrown, creating the tension that contributes to evil. In this, one can see that God has given the chain, and especially those toward the top of it, the innate ability to be good and do good, but by having free-will, man has the capacity to create the misery that must coexist with the good. 

I am not religious, so to ask whether I find Pope's arguments believable is almost unfair. My answer will always be "no" when being presented with a question such as this. However, the message still stands, even when religion is taken out of the equation. Is it believable to think that good and evil must coexist for the world to keep turning? The world could operate on goodness, alone, though it is unrealistic to believe the world could ever be peaceful, so good and evil are forced to coexist for the world to keep moving. If goodness gives up and evil wins, the world will cease to function. We all have our place in the chain of life, and we all have the ability to be the best possible version of who we are. We do not need more knowledge than this to do the best with what we have. 



Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 90-97. Print.