CHY 4U1 – Image Analysis
The Enlightenment – Voltaire
VOLTAIRE – On
Religion, Fanaticism
and Doubt
I say, that far from
forgetting those
abominable times, we
should frequently take
a view of them, to
inspire an internal
horror for them; and
that it is for our age to
make reparation by
toleration, for this long
collection of crimes,
which take place
through the want of
toleration, during
sixteen barbarous
centuries.
Doubt is not a pleasant
condition, but certainty
is absurd.
Discussing the Illustration:
1) Religious conflict had been common in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. But it
became especially intense through the 1500s and 1600s.What big religious conflict
divided Europe in those centuries?
2) This illustration shows one especially frightening form of this violence, the persecution
of witches. Witches had long been feared and punished. But these fears reached a
high point in the 1500s and early 1600s. Why do you think this was so?
3) In the 1700s, a growing faith in science and reason led many thinkers to criticize
Europe’s religious past harshly. One of the strongest critics was Volataire. What do
you think about the views Voltaire expresses here? How does the illustration help
back up the points Voltaire makes?
4) Do you think what Voltaire says here about doubt and certainty is still important in the
world today? Why or why not? If so, in what way?