Philosophical Optimism: Does It Work?
Brian Hwang
Mr. de Groof
Grade 12 Literature
01/16/15
IEP 26 Brian
The existence of evil upon our world has long been a matter of debate. During
Voltaire’s era, one of the ideas provided was “philosophical optimism”—a notion of
the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, stating that the world in which
we live is “the best of all possible worlds.” However, Voltaire disagrees and wrote the
picaresque novel Candide to provide his response towards this optimistic belief; using
the garrulous and erudite optimist character of Pangloss to satirize the absurdity of the
logic of philosophical optimism.
Leibniz, as a well-known mathematician and philosopher who formalized
calculus, unsurprisingly based his concept of philosophical optimism upon a series of
logical connections (uidaho). His argument is based on 6 premises: “God created the
universe; God’s creation is logically ordered (in the mathematical sense); God is all
knowing and all good; an all good god would only create a world with the minimum
evil; God could not create a perfect world because only God can be perfect (uidaho).”
This series of statements leads to his conclusion that the amount of evil on the world
is already the least amount and that God has created “the best of possible worlds”.
However, Voltaire repetitively stressed in the book of Candide that the sufferings
in the world are simply too great to be able to justify that God has created a world that
is indeed the “best”, lampooning Leibniz’s belief through various examples. To name
a few characters: the old woman who was born the illegitimate daughter of the pope
IEP 26 Brian
eventually ended up raped, abused and lost a buttock; the philosopher Martin who had
multiple losses and never experienced good—molding a pessimistic character out of
him; the six strangers Candide and Martin met at the inn in Venice were kings but
were dethroned and endured sufferings; the great philosopher Pangloss himself had
some of the most extreme misfortunes: catching syphilis, nearly hanged, almost got
dissected and abused as a slave. These are just some of the many cases that cast doubt
on whether philosophical optimism truly serves as an explanation to the long-standing
question of the existence of evil.
The character of Pangloss is basically the embodiment of philosophical optimism
and a parody of Leibniz in the book of Candide. Early in the book Voltaire had given
Pangloss a name which etymology means “all-tongue” and used the field of
“metaphysico-theologico-cosmoloonigology”, an odd branch of philosophy that is
said to be Pangloss’s specialty, to emphasize the fact that Pangloss is a character who
only uses his tongue to get around the world and knows little in reality while
insinuating the senselessness of the argument of philosophical optimism.
Pangloss had stated that “there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause” and
that “since everything is made to serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best
end” (Chapt.1, Voltaire). The core of his argument directly mirrors that of
Leibniz’s—that this is “the best of all possible worlds.” Pangloss’s strong, if not
IEP 26 Brian
mindless belief in optimism, had influenced his student Candide. It can be taken as the
one thing Candide knows prior to his being kicked out of the castle of the Baron of
Thunder-Ten-Tronckh. This, combing with his lack of experience with the world
outside of the castle, contributes to Candide’s naivety and innocence towards his later
experiences in the book.
Voltaire, through the use of exaggeration, applies this and Pangloss’ blind
optimism to satirize Leibniz’s optimist idea. For instance, After Pangloss contacted
syphilis and was eventually cured, he went as far as to describe the spread of syphilis
as “As indispensable part of the best of all worlds, a necessary ingredient” (Chapt.4,
Voltaire) and stating that without Columbus’ contribution in planting of the seed of
this disease in Europe, they wouldn’t be able to use cochineal and enjoy delicious
chocolate. Yet this is viewed from the European perspective; in truth, Columbus’
invasion of the New World has devastated and severely disrupted the serene lives of
the Native Americans. Is it for the best? It may be for the Europeans but it’s certainly
not for the Native Americans. Besides, the countless sacrifices on the natives’ side and
chocolate simply do not compare—making Pangloss’s optimist argument fallacious.
Furthermore, Pangloss’s philosophy and garrulous character seems to have
discouraged him from taking actual action towards whatever that is wrong in the
world. I think this is probably due to the assumption that if our world is truly the best,
IEP 26 Brian
then there is no point in acting to make a difference as all the evils upon this world are
already preset to contribute to the “best.” This is clearly illustrated by the time when
Jacques, the Anabaptist who had reached out to aid Candide and Pangloss during their
direst of times, was thrown overboard and drowning in the bay of Lisbon, Pangloss
stopped Candide from rescuing him by stating that the bay “had been formed
expressly for [him] to drown in. (Chapt.5, Voltaire)” It’s rather amusing to observe
that just as he was making his point with Candide, their ship opened up and everyone
drowned except for him, Candide and the selfish sailor who was responsible for the
death of Jacques. If Pangloss perished in the bay, I highly doubt if he would stick to
his claim and say this is for the best of all possible worlds.
In conclusion, overall, Every twist of the plot of Voltaire’s novella Candide and
all the misfortunes—theft, diseases, natural disasters, sexual assaults and deceptions
are used to ridicule and debunk Pangloss’s optimism. The character of Pangloss’s
“all-talking-and-no-acting” personality had not only detached him from reality and
gotten him and others into trouble but also, more importantly, reinforces Voltaire’s
opposing stance towards the concept of philosophical optimism. By using Pangloss as
a symbol, Voltaire was able to amuse the audiences with a ridiculous character while
shedding light on another perspective on the debate on the existence of evil and
providing his stance without attacking Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz head-on.
IEP 26 Brian
References:
"Leibniz's "Philosophical Optimism" or Sufficient Reason." Leibniz. Uidaho, Web. 12
Jan. 2015.
<http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/engl_258/Lecture%20Notes/leibniz.htm>.
Voltaire. Candide. Trans. Robert M. Adams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,
Inc., 1966. Print.