Candide by Voltaire guffordsenglishclasses老实人伏尔泰 guffordsenglishclasses.weebly.ppt

Candide by Voltaire NOTES Time Period Enlightenment—18th century France and England A.k.a. the Age of Reason Climate of Inquiry Lessening Control of the Church The Protestant Reformation The Printing Press Scientific Developments The New World (America!) Philosophies of the Time Rationalism: Rene Descartes (math)– humans, by reason alone, can discover universal truths Rationalism: Sir Isaac Newton—mechanical science. All truth found in nature; rejection of supernatural religion. Emphasis placed on principles of deduction (1687) Philosophy cont. Deism—the clockmaker God: God made the world, then he let it alone; no divine intervention Optimism 1) Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz—German mathematician and scientist. Founder of the philosophy of optimism. Leibniz cont.—world is organized according to a pre-established harmony. There is a reason for everything that happens. Followed two main assumptions: 1) God is perfect; therefore 2) Of all the worlds God could have created, he must have made this one perfect, the best. Leibniz believed evil had a beneficial value. 2) Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English poet—wrote heavily about belief of optimism Voltaire knew Pope in England (during V’s exile) and admired him until V. decided that optimism was a bunch of hooey “A little learning is a dangerous thing” “Whatever is, is right” 3) Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Humanity is naturally good but is corrupted by the environment, education, and government Since society brings out aggression and egotism, it is better for man to be a “noble savage” Rousseau sides with Pope and Leibniz Voltaire (1694-1778) French philosopher and rational skeptic Believed in writing the truth He championed knowledge against ignorance, reason against superstition, skepticism against theology Twice imprisoned in the Bastille b/c of his writing and his big mouth Twice exiled Nearly everything he published was banned, burned or suppressed Voltaire cont. His famous cry was “Crush the infamous thing (superst