How Voltaire Change the World Introduction: “Those who can make you believe absurdities; can make you commit atrocities.” Is a famous quote stated by Voltaire. The Enlightenment, sometimes known as the "Age of Reason," is described as the period of rigorous scientific, political, and philosophical debate that characterized European culture throughout the long 18th century from the late 17th century until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. This was an era of enormous shift in thinking and reason, which historian Roy Porter describes as "decisive in the formation of modernity." Decades of custom and tradition were abandoned in favor of exploration, individuality, tolerance, and scientific endeavor, which, along with changes in business and politics, saw the formation of the "modern world." Enlightenment thinkers all changed the world massively modern and past. They did speeches and did quotes and fought against people who discouraged equality and freedom. Voltaire used reason to change the society and his achievements have affected the modern society massively. Voltaire’s early life: François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), recognized as Voltaire, was a writer, philosopher, poet, play writer, author, historian and polemicist of the French Enlightenment. Voltaire was born in Paris into a wealthy bourgeois family, he was an excellent scholar of the Jesuits. His denial of his father's efforts to guide him into a career in the law was sealed in 1718, when he created a new name for himself de Voltaire. He studied in the Jesuit college of Louis-le-Grand in Paris, where he developed an interest in literature, the theatre, and social life. While he enjoyed the classical taste fostered in him by the institution, the religious education of the fathers only served to provoke his cynicism and ridicule. Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher who promoted religious freedom, free expression, and the separation of church and state. He did many speeches and had many quotes who changed history. How did Voltaire use reason to change the society: Above all, Voltaire trusted in the power of reason. He thought that reason might be used to create social change and that no authority, religious, governmental, or otherwise, should be immune to being challenged by reason. Throughout his writings, he stressed the necessity of tolerance, particularly religious tolerance. His publications and pamphlets were filled with attacks on church authority and clerical control. They also critiqued French political institutions, and many of them included detailed justifications of civil liberty. Voltaire's views were eventually released in the French and American revolutions. He spoke about human rights and had beliefs in freedom of religion and the right to speak up for what you believe. This obviously changed the society into a more organized and rightful society. Voltaire created more than 50 plays, as well as dozens of treatises on science, politics, and philosophy, as well as countless works of history on topics ranging from the Russian Empire to the French Parliament. He was also important in thew French revolution as he set the ground for the ideals that would spark the French Revolution in 1789, and inspired great American intellects like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, by condemning torture, war, religious persecution, and absolute monarchy. How did Voltaire ideas affect our modern world: Voltaire's ideas on freedom and reason sparked the French Revolution, the United States Bill of Rights, and the decline of the Catholic Church's dominance, all of which had an impact on modern western culture. Voltaire is the main reason for freedom and human rights and the right to vote and speak up for yourself. He is the one who made the French revolution without it our modern world would be different. To add Voltaire ushered in a wide range of views and activities that still exist in our society today. Our constitution guarantees us the right to free speech, religion, and the press, among other things. Voltaire contributed to this by standing up for what he believed in regardless of the consequences. Without Voltaire people would all be slaves and would not have the rights we have today. Conclusion: To conclude, Voltaire is one of the most important people in history as he used reason and changed the society. To add his ideas and actions affected our modern world massively. And without his efforts the modern world would not be the same. Sources: 1- https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/theenlightenment#:~:text=The%20Enlightenment%20%E2%80%93%20the%20great%20'Ag e,the%20Napoleonic%20Wars%20in%201815. 2- http://www.voltaire.ox.ac.uk/about-voltaire/#:~:text=and%20life%20writing,His%20life,himself%3A%20'de%20Voltaire'. 3- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Voltaire#:~:text=He%20attended%20the%20Jes uit%20college,arouse%20his%20skepticism%20and%20mockery. 4- https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hcccworldhistory2/chapter/voltaire/#:~:text=Voltaire%20was%20a%20French%20Enlighten ment,separation%20of%20church%20and%20state. 5- https://www.ipl.org/essay/How-Did-Voltaire-Impact-SocietyFCHXESTSDSM#:~:text=Voltaire%20opened%20a%20broad%20spectrum,in%20no%20m atter%20the%20consequence.
