Voltaire's Critique of Optimism in Candide

316 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Voltaire’s candide and a product of its time

Voltaire's Views on Optimism Exposed in Candide In Voltaire's literature, specifically Candide, he attacks the element of human optimism. This attack on human optimism was thought to have been the result of his shock over the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. (Gay 46) Voltaire attained that enthusiasm was a mental disease. (Gay 256) He believed that philosophies must avoid the cheap complacency of optimism(Gay 46). As Voltaire attempted to sum up in Candide," If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?" (Gay 26). Candide was proof that Voltaire despised optimism. The story is based on the assumption that God is to blame for setting us down in an imperfect world. (Andrews101) Although Voltaire denied haven written Candide, he was verbal about his opinions toward optimism. He felt optimism is absurd because there is so much human misery. (Weitz 13) Voltaire defines optimism as being "the passion for maintaining that all is right when all goes wrong with us". (Weitz14) "Ultimately", Voltaire said, "optimism is as self protecting a hypothesis about the world as one could imagine, since absolutely nothing can refute it". (Weitz 14) Voltaire did not deny natural disasters or human suffering. He denies only that these phenomena are evil. He asserted that they are necessary elements of the world. (Weitz 15) Voltaire believed that optimism is not a cause of joy or hope, but instead one of despair. Evil exists and it is Mankind's task to simply deal with it the best way it can. (Weitz 17) Works Cited Andrews, Wayne. Voltaire. New York: New Directions Pub. 1981 Gay, Peter. Voltaire's Politics.New York: Random House,1965 Weitz, Morris. Philosophy in literature. Detroit: Wayne State Univ. Press.1963

Show More
Related

  • Essay on Satire - Satirizing Optimism in Voltaire's Candide

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Candide is a humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism promoted by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the story of a young man's adventures throughout the world, where he witnesses evil and disaster. Throughout his travels, he adheres to the teachings of his tutor, Pangloss, believing that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds," (Voltaire 4). Candide is Voltaire's answer to what he saw as an absurd belief proposed by the Optimists. "Candide...is a profound attack on philosophical Optimism and, through it, all philosophical systems that claim falsely to justify the presence of evil in the world," (Mason 1). "Candide anatomizes the world's potential for disaster and examines the corresponding human capacity for optimism," (Bell 1). Though he was by no means a pessimist, Voltaire refused to believe that what happens is always for the best.

    Read More

  • Candide

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    Voltaire looked at the world with the idea that there could be something done about all the evil in the world. Although he knew the world would never be perfect, he wanted people to see that the world they were living in was one that could be improved upon.

    Read More

  • Candide Optimism Analysis

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Candide or Optimism, written by Voltaire in 1759, was created to satirize the a priori thinking that everything is for the best in the world. Candide, the guileless and simpleminded main character and his companions are exposed to the very worst the world possibly has to offer with rape, murder, whippings, war, earthquakes, shipwrecks, cannibalism, thievery, disease, greed, and worst of all, human nature. Through these horrific events, Pangloss, the philosopher maintaining a priori thinking, stubbornly upholds the idea that everything is for the best. It is Pangloss’s influence above all else that is imprinted upon Candide and that as the novel progresses, is slowly replaced in Candide’s mind by others characters’ viewpoints. Rather than assertive

    Read More

  • Essay on Voltaire’s Candide: Use of Language

    663 Words  | 2 Pages

    A great philosopher Liebnitz once said that this is the best possible of all worlds. Voltaire disagrees. In Voltaire's Candide, the impartial narrator travels to distant lands and experiences a range of extremes. After having spent a great deal of time away from his homeland, and having seen more than most people see in a lifetime, the narrator is forced to conclude that this may not be the best possible world because of the reality of evil. Voltaire relates this point very effectively through his mastery of language and the choices he makes, both gramatically and content-related.

    Read More

  • Free Candide Essays: The Search for Truth

    1501 Words  | 4 Pages

    Voltaire's Candide is a novel which contains conceptual ideas and at the same time is also exaggerated. Voltaire offers sad themes disguised by jokes and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of The Tell Tale Heart

    1694 Words  | 4 Pages

    "The Tell-Tale Heart" is one of the most successful fables ever written. It took off its most fantastic details regarding the murdered man 's vulture like eye, and the long drawn out detail concerning the murderer 's slow entrance into his victim 's room, the story stays at an unforgettable recording of the guilty conscience of the man 's voice.

    Read More

  • Criticism In Chapter 5 Of Voltaire's 'Candide'

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    In chapter 5 of Candide, the Enlightenment and the birth of tolerance were on full display. In Candide, the Enlightenment thinkers’ view of the optimum world is challenged through the shipwreck and the satiric explanations of the Lisbon Bay and Lisbon Earthquake. Voltaire continues to use ironically tragic events to test Pangloss’s optimistic philosophy, which attempts to explain evil. The use of grotesque and naive behavior between individuals in this chapter makes the reader question Pangloss’s irrational thinking with the cause and effects of the events.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Candide, by Voltaire

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin with, it is important to state that Voltaire's book is not about one specific thing or the other, the book is about life in general. This becomes apparent when Pangloss talks to Candide about cultivating his garden, he said, “for when man was put into the garden of Eden, it was with an intent to dress it; and this proves that man was not born to be idle”, to that statement Martin responds “Work then without disputing ... it is the only way to render life supportable.” (30). What Voltaire was trying to say is that maybe it is impossible to be truly happy, but the only way for people to be contempt is to work. Voltaire understood that if there is happiness in this world it will only come from the fruits of our labor.

    Read More

  • How Voltaire utilizes Candide, Pangloss,and Martin to satirize how blind optimism hinders the perception of reality

    1262 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the characterization of his characters Voltaire shows the defaults of being blind, thus Pangloss and Martin never found contentment when trying to find the good or bad in everything as for Candide found more peace when he found how to “cultivate”(129) his own garden.He found that it does not matter “whether there is good or evil”(128), that even though the world has its positive, and negative moments you have to live them.

    Read More

  • The Nature of Unhappiness in Candide, by Voltaire

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Candide is well known for its critique of optimism by Voltaire. The title character, along with his companions, bears many hardships throughout the novel and philosophizes about the nature and necessity of good in the world. Whether there is truly any good in the world is debated between the characters, particularly between the very discouraged Martin and Candide, who carries with him the optimistic words of Dr. Pangloss, a believer in the good nature of the world. While the characters debate why man must carry such burdens, Voltaire shows us that it is dealing with the bad that makes us human. While discussing Cunegonde Martin says to Candide, "I wish" that she may one day make you happy. But I very much doubt she will. ‘You are a bit hard,’ said Candide. ‘That’s because I’ve lived,’ said Martin.

    Read More

  • Women in Voltaire’s Candide

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    Voltaire. Candide Or, Optimism. Trans. Peter Constantine. Modern Library ed. New York: Random House, 2005

    Read More

  • Analysis On Candide: The Impossibility Of The Happy Life

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire lived from 1694-1778. He was an author and a philosopher whose philosophy stressed rationality, democracy and scientific inquiry. These interests can all be seen in Candide, for example, which has a philosopher for a main character and which satirizes the philosophy of Leibnitz throughout the text. The novel Candide was written in response to the earthquake of 1759 which hit Lisbon and resulted in the instantaneous and indiscriminate deaths of thousands. Appalled by the horrible deaths of so many innocent people, Voltaire was at this time also incensed by Leibnitz who wrote that given the worlds God might have created, by choosing to endow mankind with free will, "the world we live in is the best of all possible worlds." To Voltaire, this response to the earthquake amounted to an abominable moral complacency and indifference by philosophers such as Leibnitz, who Voltaire felt seemed to accept all the other normal suffering and injustice in the world. Hence in Candide, Voltaire relentlessly satirizes Leibnitz's formulation by shifting the stress to "this is the best of all possible worlds" and bringing up the line every time a character encounters a horrible calamity or atrocity. However, it should be added that Voltaire's hatred of injustices perpetrated by the aristocracy, the church and the state--all of which he satirizes in Candide--also grew out of his personal experiences.

    Read More

  • Candide: A Satire On The Enlightenment

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    Candide is an outlandishly humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism espoused by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the story of a young man’s adventures throughout the world, where he witnesses much evil and disaster. Throughout his travels, he adheres to the teachings of his tutor, Pangloss, believing that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds." Candide is Voltaire’s answer to what he saw as an absurd belief proposed by the Optimists - an easy way to rationalize evil and suffering. Though he was by no means a pessimist, Voltaire refused to believe that what happens is always for the best.The Age of Enlightenment is a term applied to a wide variety of ideas and advances in the fields of philosophy, science, and medicine. The primary feature of Enlightenment philosophy is the belief that people can actively work to create a better world. A spirit of social reform characterized the political ideology of Enlightenment philosophers. While Voltaire’s Candide is heavily characterized by the primary concerns of the Enlightenment, it also criticizes certain aspects of the movement. It attacks the idea that optimism, which holds that rational thought can inhibit the evils perpetrated by human beings.

    Read More

  • The Effective Satire of Voltaire's Candide

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Candide, Voltaire sought to point out the fallacy of Gottfried Leibniz's theory of optimism and the hardships brought on by the resulting inaction toward the evils of the world. Voltaire's use of satire, and its techniques of exaggeration and contrast highlight the evil and brutality of war and the world in general when men are meekly accepting of their fate.

    Read More

  • Essay on Voltaire’s Candide: Relevance of Candide’s Message Today

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... that in life there will be many obstacles which can and should be overcome. Life has its difficulties but the world would be a miserable place if people passively accepted that everything that happened to them was for the best - shrugging off responsibility. Voltaire believes that people should not allow themselves to be victims. He sneers at naive, accepting types, informing us that people must work (be active) to make their happiness.

    Read More

More about Voltaire's Critique of Optimism in Candide

Open Document