Voltaire

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François-Marie d’Arouet, or Voltaire as we know him, was born on November 21, 1694. He played an independent and significant part in bringing a clear sense to the Enlightenment movement. He defined his philosophy as “a set of doctrines or systematically defined positions.” (1) His works investigate the separation between philosophy and science, something that had still been in the works at the time.

Voltaire did not find trust in democracy. He was always questioning those who held power. Voltaire believed that an enlightened monarch was the only thing that could cause change, given the social structure in his time and the extreme rates of illiteracy. Voltaire thought Frederick the Great would work with him to change things for the better, and unfortunately he did not. This disappointment sparked the inspiration for one of his most important works, Candide, ou I’Optimisme. Candide concluded “that optimism was a philosophical chimera produced when dialectical reason remains detached from brute empirical facts owed a great debt to his Newtonian convictions.” Following this, a few years later he used his writings to attack intolerance and religious persecutions. (1)

His Philosophical Works:

• Le Mondain (1736)
• Sept Discours en Vers sur l’Homme (1738)
• Zadig (1747)
• Micromégas (1752)
• Candide (1759)
• Traité sur la tolérance (1763)
• Ce qui plaît aux dames (1764)
• Dictionnaire philosophique (1764)
• L’Ingénu (1767)
• La Princesse de Babylone (1768)

At the core of his philosophy was liberty.  In Voltaire’s eyes, nothing we do is determined and therefor, we each have free will. This take on natural philosophy steered him away from the likes of radicals and republicans. Voltaire was very outspoken about his advocacy even though laws of the time were restricting. His advocacy will never go unnoticed.  (1)

 

(1) Shank, J.B. “Voltaire.” Stanford University. Stanford University, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.