The Literature Book

96

IF THIS IS THE BEST

OF ALL POSSIBLE

WORLDS WHAT ARE

THE OTHERS?

CANDIDE (1759), VOLTAIRE

A

diverse group of writers

and intellectuals who

lived in France in the

18th century came to be known

as the philosophes (“philosophers”);

their work nevertheless extended

beyond philosophy into social,

cultural, ethical, and political

realms. The philosophes—who

included Voltaire, Jean-Jacques

Rousseau, Denis Diderot, and

Montesquieu—were part of the

widespread intellectual shift in

Europe that was known as the

Enlightenment: the assault on

superstition, intolerance, and

injustice in the name of reason

and intellectual freedom that

lasted from the late 17th century

to the French Revolution of 1789.

Indeed, the Revolution was inspired

by the ideas of philosophers and

scientists, together with the

prevailing spirit of rationalism

and political liberalism.

Supreme optimism

Candide (originally titled Candide,

ou l’Optimisme, and translated

into English as Candide: or, All for

the Best) is a conte philosophique,

a philosophical fable in which

Voltaire gave narrative expression

to Enlightenment values. He turned

his ferocious satirical scrutiny in

particular on the ideas expressed

by the German Gottfried Wilhelm

von Leibniz in his philosophy of

optimism, which held that because

God is a benevolent deity, this

world must be the best possible

(optimal) world.

Leibniz’s ideas are echoed in

the novel by the philosopher

Dr. Pangloss, who utters his mantra

“All is for the best in the best of all

possible worlds” even in the face of

repeated disaster. In a way that

challenges this rosy metaphysics,

the young hero, Candide, suffers a

series of ordeals, including expulsion

from a baronial home, numerous

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

The philosophes

BEFORE

1721 Persian Letters, by

Montesquieu, satirizes French

society through the eyes of two

Persian visitors, who compare

Christianity with Islam and

undermine Catholic doctrine.

1751–72 Rond d’Alembert

and Denis Diderot produce

the great collective enterprise

of the Enlightenment, the

Encyclopédie, to “change

the way people think.”

AFTER

1779 Nathan the Wise, a play

by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

set during the Third Crusade,

offers an aspirational vision of

religious tolerance.

1796 Diderot’s philosophical

novel Jacques the Fatalist,

presenting a determinist

world view, has among its

characters two men who

cannot stop dueling.

Man was born to live

either in the convulsions

of misery, or in the

lethargy of boredom.

Candide

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