Also known as François-Marie Arouet
1694 – 1778 · Paris, London, Cirey, Potsdam, Ferney
Traditions: Modern European
Connections
- Tradition
- Modern European
- Influences
- 2 sourced relationships
Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet, was a French writer, satirist and philosopher, and one of the best-known voices of the Enlightenment. He wrote plays, histories, poems and philosophical tales, and used wit to attack religious intolerance, censorship and the power of the Church. His Philosophical Letters praised English liberty, toleration and the science of Newton and Locke, and were condemned in France. His tale Candide mocks the belief that this is the best of all possible worlds. He spent his last decades at Ferney, near Geneva, campaigning against judicial injustice.
Key ideas
- Religious toleration is a demand of reason and common humanity; persecution in the name of faith is a crime.
- Candide satirises Leibnizian optimism, the view that all is for the best, by setting it against war, earthquake and cruelty.
- He was a deist: the order of nature points to a creator, but dogma, miracles and clerical authority should be rejected.
- England's freedom of thought, commerce and experimental science offered a model for reforming France.
- Candide's closing advice, 'we must cultivate our garden', favours modest practical work over grand metaphysical systems.
Major works
- Candide (1759)
- Philosophical Letters (Letters on the English) (1734)
- Treatise on Tolerance (1763)
- Philosophical Dictionary (1764)
Influences and relationships
2 sourced relationships. Open one to read why, and the source.
Shaped Voltaire 1
Influenced byJohn Locke1632 – 1704
Voltaire helped to spread Locke’s views on reason, toleration and limited government in France, presenting him beside Newton as a figure of the Enlightenment.
Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy · stated on the profile of John Locke
Voltaire answered 1
CriticisedG. W. Leibniz1646 – 1716
Voltaire’s Candide satirised optimism, showing vividly how imperfect the world seems.
Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · stated on the profile of G. W. Leibniz
In the Book corner
- Philosophical Letters (Letters on the English)
Twenty-five short letters in which Voltaire reports on England, where he lived from 1726 to 1728, and uses it to criticise France.… - Candide
A short satirical novel, published anonymously in 1759, that tests the philosophy of optimism against the world. Candide is raised in a…
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