Voltaire and the Enlightenment

Central Question How do we reconcile the problem of evil in self, society, and the world?

Characters Candide – protagonist, naïve young man, whose faith in the oft uttered ‘all is for the best…” optimistic mantra of his tutor Pangloss is perpetually tested, he pursues his beloved Cunegonde and faith throughout the novella Pangloss – Candide’s tutor who is an optimist and philosopher, he is also the parody of certain philosophers of the time (Leibniz), and the vehicle for the satire

Characters cont’d Martin – the cynical scholar and traveling companion of Candide. His philosophies diametrically oppose the Panglossian philosophy as being entirely pessimistic. Cunegonde – the Baron’s daughter with whom Candide falls in love, simplistic; woe befalls her when her father’s estate is destroyed and she is taken as a slave during the war. Represents the shallowness of love and beauty.

Cacambo - Candide's valet when Candide travels in South America Cacambo - Candide's valet when Candide travels in South America. A mixed-race native of the America’s, highly intelligent, morally honest; rescues Candide from a number of scrapes and is responsible for Candide's reunion with Cunégonde. Provides direct practical contrast to ineffectual philosophers such as Pangloss and Martin. The old woman - daughter of a Pope, has experienced the death of a fiancé, rape by pirates, slavery, and cannibalism in wartime, she becomes Cunégonde's servant, misfortunes made her cynical about human nature, but she doesn’t give in to self-pity, wise, practical, and loyal to her mistress. Though she has often been close to suicide, she always finds a reason to live.

Characters cont’d The Commander or the baron -  Cunégonde's brother; after his family's castle is destroyed in wartime, he becomes a Jesuit priest. He represents the arrogance of the aristocracy. James (the Anabaptist)  - humane Dutch Anabaptist, cares for the itinerant Candide and Pangloss; despite his kindness he is pessimistic about human nature, he drowns in the Bay of Lisbon while trying to save the life of an ungrateful sailor.

Characters cont’d The farmer -  The farmer has a modest farm outside Constantinople. Candide and his friends are impressed with his lifestyle of hard work and simple pleasures, and adopt it for themselves.  Count Pococurante -  Literally means “Caring little” The count is a wealthy Venetian. He has a marvelous collection of art and literature, but he is bored with and critical of everything. The Marquise of Parolignac - a cunning, sexually licentious Paris socialite. She seduces Candide and steals some of his jeweled rings.

Characters cont’d Brother Giroflée  - dissatisfied monk that parents forced into a monastery to enlarge his brother's fortune, Paquette's client, and like her, he is miserable and does not get any happier after Candide gives him a large sum of money.  The Grand Inquisitor - an important figure in the Portuguese Catholic Church that represents the hypocrisy of religious leaders. He uses the threat of religious oppression to force the Jew Don Issachar to share Cunégonde with him. Meanwhile, he orders that suspected heretics be burned alive. Candide kills the Inquisitor when the Inquisitor discovers him with Cunégonde.

Characters cont’d Paquette - she is initially the chambermaid of Cunégonde's mother, has an affair with Pangloss and gives him syphilis, and eventually turns to prostitution to support herself, Brother Giroflée is one of her clients. In Venice, Candide is moved by Paquette's misery gives her a great deal of money, which she quickly squanders.

Characters cont’d Don Issachar - a wealthy Jew, that purchases Cunégonde and makes her his mistress. The Grand Inquisitor forces him to share Cunégonde by threatening to burn him alive as a heretic. Candide kills Don Issachar when he interrupts Candide and Cunégonde.   Vanderdendur - a cruel slave owner and an unscrupulous merchant, after stealing one of Candide's jewel-laden sheep, his ship is sunk in a battle. Candide sees his death as a sign that retributive justice is at work in the world.

Voltaire (1694-1778) pseudonym of Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire was the most influential author of the 18th century, an epochal period that changed the thinking and culture of Western Europe. He wrote many hundreds of published works and well over 20,000 letters. Voltaire’s published works range from light verse to epic poetry, drama, narrative fiction, essays, a dictionary, philosophical treatises, scientific popularizations to the genre he created, the “philosophical tale” (Kors 1, 452). Voltaire (1694-1778) pseudonym of Francois Marie Arouet

Voltaire grew up during the Reign of Louis XIV of France Although orthodoxy and censorship limited candor, France under Louis XIV was in a state of intellectual ferment. Because of his wars, the last 15-20 years of Louis XIV’s reign had led to widespread suffering, crippling taxation, agricultural crises and famine. Indirect criticism of Louis’ reign took the form of idealized portrait of great rulers of the past, but moral and political criticism of the monarchy was widespread (Kors 2, 452). Louis XIV

Imprisonment in the Bastille “In 1718, Voltaire enjoyed a first and stunning literary success with his tragedy Oedipe (0edipus), changed his name from Arouet to Voltaire and enjoyed literary triumph, fame and wealth. He inherited his father’s wealth in 1724 and invested it extremely well. However, at the height of his fame and influence, Voltaire experienced humiliation, imprisonment and exile to England” (Kors 2, 452).

Many in France celebrated the 17th century revolutions in science and philosophy. French readers favored French authors, especially Descartes. Descartes’ philosophy was based on accepted generalizations, rationally certain, clear and distinct ideas that he felt that we find innate in our minds. From these, we may deduce by logic our knowledge of the world. To Voltaire, Cartesian philosophy relied upon, for its premises, ideas that had no empirical basis other than being generally accepted. (Kors 3, 452). Rene Descartes

For Voltaire, Locke’s sensationalism—his value for only that knowledge that we can verify through the experience of our senses—was superior to Descartes’ rationalism with its doctrine of innate ideas. Locke’s philosophy links us to the “things of this world” and makes authentic scientific knowledge possible. Voltaire also wanted to popularize Locke’s view that if our knowledge is all derived from our experience, then our knowledge is limited to our experience (Kors 3, 452). John Locke

Unlike Descartes, Locke avoided theorizing about the substance or nature of the mind, an issue at the time. For Locke, this question is beyond human experience. Voltaire defended Locke’s argument that philosophical skepticism is the only honest conclusion in metaphysical matter. He felt that the only honest conclusion in metaphysical matters is to admit ignorance (Kors 3, 452).

Leibniz and Theodicy Emilie du Chatelet had introduced Voltaire to Essays on Theodicy, in which Gottfried Leibniz addressed the question of why evil exists in a world created by God. “Theodicy” is that branch of philosophy that addresses the problem of evil. Leibniz’s optimistic philosophy initially appealed to Voltaire’s deism. In Theodicy, Leibniz argues that God, who is infinitely wise, powerful and good, would not create a perfect world, because He is the only perfect being. As God will create, therefore, an imperfect world, it logically follows, “the best of all possible worlds.” It further follows that God chose everything in the creation as necessary to the existence of the best of all possible worlds. Therefore, nothing is truly “evil.” God has a sufficient reason for all things, and if we had God’s knowledge, we would understand the good of what we might think, from our limited perspective, to be evil (Kors 6, 452).

Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon disaster)

Voltaire and Optimism Voltaire had always felt a tension about this philosophical optimism; in the 1750s, he came to reject it. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 raised the question, “How can the evil and suffering of the world be reconciled with the goodness of God?” Voltaire addressed this question in his Poem on the Lisbon Earthquake, describing the suffering caused by the earthquake and asking why an omnipotent God could not have created a world without such catastrophes (Kors 6, 452).

Lisbon Earthquake The Lisbon earthquake of November 1,1755 seared Voltaire’s consciousness and deeply affected Europe’s intellectual life. Voltaire questioned how the evil produced by nature’s general laws could be reconciled with the providence of God. In his “Poem on the Lisbon Earthquake,” Voltaire argued that evil is real and incomprehensible. Rather than attempt to understand God, we should devote our love and attention to suffering humanity. The arbitrariness of survival motivated Candide.

To Voltaire, philosophical optimism equals fatalism: if “whatever is, is right,” then one’s attempts to mitigate suffering do not matter.

Poem on the Lisbon Earthquake For Voltaire, one must choose between a Leibnizian optimism that denies the existence of evil and a cry of humanistic anguish that admits it. Philosophical explanations of suffering add insult to injury. Evil is real and incomprehensible. God exists, but we cannot understand his providence. Humanity, not God, requires our love and attention (Kors 6, 452).

In Rousseau’s Stinging Reply to the Poem on the Lisbon Earthquate, he asserts that: Voltaire has written against God and denied humans their solace, Our rational knowledge of God’s nature and necessary creation of the best of all possible worlds wholly outweighs the appearances of things, and Cities are centers of corruption; humans were meant to live simply in the countryside. According to Rousseau, God put earthquakes in nature so we would know how to live (Kors 6, 452).

Philosophical optimism denies the human reality of irredeemable pain, injustice, and cruelty. Candide voyages through a world of war, arrogance, abuses of power, religious persecutions and disease. Voltaire argues that evil is real, and we cannot understand God’s providence. In Candide, the only way to avoid despair is to labor to satisfy human needs. We must pay attention to the real sources of well-being and the causes of human suffering (Kors 6, 452).

Candide’s conclusion is: “Let us cultivate our garden Candide’s conclusion is: “Let us cultivate our garden.” The only antidote to pain and despair is to work in the earthly garden, to stave off what suffering and vice we can. Candide marked a crucial turn from theological or metaphysical concerns to practial attention to the human condition, from abstract philosophy to humanistic activism (Kors 20).

Sources Birkenstock, Jane M. “A Love Story—Voltaire and Emilie,” Chateau de Cirey-Residence of Voltaire (2009). Web. 14 June 2010. Kors, Alan Charles. “The Assault Upon Philosophical Optimism: Voltaire,” The Birth of the Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries. Course 447. The Teaching Company, n.d. CD. Kors, Alan Charles, Voltaire and the Triumph of the Enlightenment, Course 452. The Teaching Company, n.d. CD. Walsh, Thomas Readings on Candide. Literary Companion to World Literature. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2001.