Voltaire
SECTION
2
The Philosophes Advocate Reason
Beliefs of the Philosophes
• The philosophes are French social critics in the
mid-1700s
• Value reason, nature, happiness, progress,
liberty
Voltaire Combats Intolerance
• Voltaire—influential philosophe, pen name of
François Marie Arouet
• Publishes many works arguing for tolerance, reason
• Makes powerful enemies and is imprisoned twice for
his views
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New Views on Society
Some Enlightenment philosophers focused on government,
others on issues in society
• Francois-Marie Arouet, wrote as Voltaire
• Outspoken philosopher, wrote with biting wit
– Attacked injustice among nobility, government,
church
– Created enemies, imprisoned twice
– Exiled to England for two years
– Defended principles, fought superstition, ignorance
– Lifelong struggle for justice, toleration, liberty
Voltaire
• Loathed the Church
– Blocked development of freedom
– “Crush the horrible thing!”
– What do monks do?
• “sing, eat, digest”
– Pope condemned his writings
Voltaire
• Superstition
– “The fewer superstitions, the less fanaticism,
and the less fanaticism, the fewer calamities”
Voltaire
• Francois Marie Arouet
• Published more then 70 books
• Made frequent targets of the
clergy, aristocracy, and the government
• Twice sent to French prison
• Fought for tolerance
• Exiled from France, returned after two years
later fled another prison term
Voltaire:
 Fought for tolerance, reason,
freedom of religion, and
freedom of speech.
 Got into lots of trouble for his
ideas and spent time in jail.
 Usually targeted the clergy,
aristocracy, and government.
Voltaire (1694-1778)
• Voltaire was one of the most brilliant
and prolific of the Enlightenment
thinkers.
• Playwright, novelist and wrote many
philosophical essays.
• Especially well-known for his
criticism of religion and his belief in
religious toleration and acceptance.
• Treatise on Toleration: argued that
religious toleration had created no
problems for England and Holland.
Argued that all men are brothers
under God.
• Was a champion of Deism
Voltaire (1694-1778)
• French intellectual who criticized French
society
• Writings offended political and religious
authorities
• Wrote against religious persecution
• Believed that with reason, society could
improve
Voltaire
• Wrote funny, satiric works that criticized the
society of the period.
• Worked with Frederick of Prussia—an
“enlightened despot”
• Was imprisoned in the Bastille, later was
exiled from France.
• Most famous work was Candide, that
criticized the idea that “everything is for the
best.”
Voltaire
• Opposed evils of religious bigotry and
political oppression
• Candide makes fun of optimists
• Cultivate your own garden: reject
philosophical solutions ;cultivate himself,
work hard and seek a comfortable and
reasonable life.
Voltaire’s Views on Rights
Everybody should have:
– Freedom of thought
– Champion of human rights
– Freedom of speech, press, and religion
Voltaire
•
•
•
•
Pen name
Critical of Catholic church
Influenced others by letters
Denied writings to avoid problems
– Exiled to England for a while
– Returned to live on Swiss border
• Candide
– Led by Pangloss ("All Talk") who
believed that all is right in God's world
– Lisbon earthquake and fatalism
(drowning)
– "Let us all tend our garden"
Voltaire’s View on the New Trends
• Man is the owner of his own mind
• Man is capable of goodness and progress
• One can uncover the reason behind events
and can explain the principles that govern
nature, man and society
• Questioning and criticism of authority
• broad solidarity of Enlightened intellectuals
• Strong aversion toward nationalism
Source: http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/
courses/wc2/lectures/enlightenment.html (2-16-03)
Voltaire’s Famous Works
• Works filled more than 90 volumes
• Letters on the English---1734, about how he admired the
British government and society for its tolerance and fair
government; this got him in trouble with the French
absolute monarch Louis XV and the Catholic Church, the
book was banned and burned in public, Voltaire had to go
into hiding or be thrown into the Bastille
• Candide---a satirical novel making fun of the nobles; it was
a fantasy of a philosophe who wanders through Europe
witnessing suffering, hardship, and inhumanity, it
criticizes that view that Europe was the best of all possible
worlds; focuses on the theme that happiness comes from
taking care of oneself
• The Philosophy of Newton---about the scientific
achievements of Isaac Newton and the importance of the
scientific method
Literary Focus
• Satire is writing that ridicules human weakness,
vice, or folly in order to bring about social reform.
• An expert satirist like Voltaire uses a variety of
tools to expose his subject to ridicule—from witty
barbs to heavy bludgeons that flatten his
opponent’s sacred cows.
• As Voltaire exposes one absurdity after another,
readers become convinced that they would be
fools not to agree with his point of view.
CANDIDE (CH 1, 2, 17, 18, 19, 30, and
supplements) Background
• Candide is subtitled “Optimism” and tells a
tale of the woes that befall a naïve
simpleton who is brought up to believe that
this world is the best of all possible worlds.
• The point of Voltaire’s story is to show
how Candide’s optimism is foolish in a
world in which people’s lives are shaped
for the most part by cruel and
incomprehensible forces.
Voltaire—Responsible for the Trend of
Enlightened Despots
• Voltaire pushed the
idea that a ruler can
justify her/his power
by improving society.
– Voltaire is the
philosopher who said: “I
may disagree with what
you have to say, but I
shall defend to the death
your right to say it.”
Voltaire
• Voltaire
– spent a lot of time
at the court of
Frederick the Great
of Prussia (Voltaire
was the first to call
him “the Great”)
– corresponded with
Catherine the
Great of Russia.
Voltaire’s Opposition to
Tyranny
• He opposed tyranny and
dogma, but he had no notion
of reinventing democracy.
– He had far too little faith in the
ordinary person for that.
– He thought that educated and
sophisticated people could,
through the exercise of their
reason, see that the world could
and should be greatly
improved.
“I do not agree with a word you
say, but I will defend to the
death your right to say it.”
“The pen is mightier than the
sword.”
– Voltaire
“The individual who persecutes
another because he is not of the
same opinion is nothing less
than a monster.”
– Voltaire
Voltaire cont.
• His famous cry was “Crush the infamous thing
(superstition)!”
• He constantly fought against the system that
tortured and plundered in the name of religion
• “Men…enriched by your sweat and
misery…made you superstitious, not that you
might fear God, but that you might fear them.”
• He was NOT an atheist
“I have never made but one
prayer to God, a very short one:
‘Oh Lord, make my enemies
ridiculous.’ And God granted
it.”
“Almost everything that goes beyond
the adoration of a Supreme Being
and submission of the heart to his
orders is superstition. One of the
most dangerous is to believe that
certain ceremonies entail the
forgiveness of crimes. Do you believe
that God will forget a murder you
have committed if you bathe in a
certain river, sacrifice a black
sheep…? … Do better miserable
humans, have neither murders nor
sacrifices of black sheep.”
God is a comedian playing
to an audience too afraid
to laugh.
It is dangerous to be
right when the
government is wrong.
I may not agree with what
you have to say, but I will
defend to the death your
right to say it.
Quotes by and about Voltaire
• Voltaire: “If God did not exist, it would be
necessary to invent Him.”
• Victor Hugo: “He was an age. To name
Voltaire is to characterize the entire
eighteenth century.”
• Will Durant: “Italy had a Renaissance,
Germany had a Reformation, but France
had Voltaire.”