Optimism philosophy leibniz free#

His view of philosophy and the role of a philosopher was first and foremost as that of a public citizen and advocate of reason.

He thought of himself as “writing to act”, wanting for his works to influence thinking and behavior of people. Voltaire believed in work, himself having written 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. In this, he was strongly influenced by Newton, who succeeded in describing how physical bodies moved, but when asked about why the laws are the way they are, he famously replied: “ I feign no hypotheses“. Voltaire calls for a more humble stance – sometimes to offer no explanation is the most honest thing to do. Such systems, rooted in imagination, are often cumbersome and wrong in the face of evidence. He criticizes the urge for what he calls “philosophical romances” – systematic accounts of natural phenomena that serve only to satisfy our natural need for coherent explanations. “Our Descartes, born to discover the errors of antiquity, and at the same time to substitute his own, and hurried away by that systematic spirit which throws a cloud over the minds of the greatest men…” Voltaire was particularly unhappy with Descartes, whose works he calls out as completely wrong and useless. Voltaire was hostile not only towards any form of authority, such as religion and tradition, but also towards philosophical tradition of building systems that simply don’t stand the test of reality. The whole enlightenment philosophy is built on strong trust in the power of the human mind and its ability for humble critical thinking.

It wouldn’t be right for me disown myself Leibniz cannot have been wrong and our world’s pre- existent harmony, furthermore, is the loveliest thing there is, along with the fullness of space and the materia subtilis, or subtlety of matter.’ ’ ‘‘I remain faithful to my basic beliefs,’’ said Pangloss, ‘‘because, in the end, I remain a philosopher. ‘‘When you were being hanged, dissected, beaten with a stick, and rowing in the galleys, did you always believe that everything was for the best in this best of all worlds?’’ ‘‘Well! My dear Pangloss,’’ Candide said to him. Pangloss, a philosopher, even after being hanged, dissected alive, beaten and made to row a galley still holds on to Leibniz’s teachings. Voltaire’s main argument against Optimism is that there is simply too much suffering in the world, and it could obviously have been designed to include less misery.Ĭandide, a naive man, who was “ educated never to judge for himself ”, needs to live through a long string of unfortunate events to merely start doubting the optimistic teachings of Prof. The philosophy of Optimism, attributed to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, holds that we live in a world that was designed as it is, on purpose, and it is “the best of all possible worlds”. Don’t stick with your beliefs accept opposing evidence His teacher, Professor Pangloss, is a personification of Leibniz’s philosophy of Optimism and a man of firm beliefs, often irrational and obviously wrong.īesides the criticism of all organized religions and the optimistic philosophy, a few motifs stand out in Candide, pointing out behaviors that Voltaire particularly condemned. After being kicked out from the shelter of his castle, all Candide sees in the world is opposite to what he was taught. It is a story of a naive man that travels the world, meets people and discovers misery of the real world through their unfortunate life stories. Today, Voltaire’s best-known work is Candide.

Optimism philosophy leibniz free#

This certainly helped Voltaire maintain his standpoints and never compromise on his ideals of critical thought and free speech.Īlthough often incorrectly credited with writing: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”, the quote was made up in order to summarize Voltaire’s firm attitude on freedom of thought. Born into a family of a well-established lawyer father, he later came to possess what would today be deemed as f**k-you-money. Unusually for a philosopher of the time, Voltaire was a celebrity and rather wealthy his whole life. To a modern reader, Candide is no less exciting and sharp than South Park or John Oliver might be at ridiculing today’s world. The ridicule of organized religion and Leibniz’s philosophy of Optimism, as presented in Candide, is entertaining and punchy. His 18th-century wits are far from archaic even today. He fought passionately against dogmatism of any kind, advocated free speech, was c ensored, imprisoned and exiled multiple times. François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, is the principal representative of the Age of Enlightenment.