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Voltaire and Candide. If this is the best of all possible worlds, then I’d hate to see what the worst is like…. A. The purpose of philosophy. Definition: A love of knowledge and learning; philosophers seek to understand the nature of existence Why are we here – what is our purpose?
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Voltaire and Candide If this is the best of all possible worlds, then I’d hate to see what the worst is like…
A. The purpose of philosophy • Definition: A love of knowledge and learning; philosophers seek to understand the nature of existence • Why are we here – what is our purpose? • What is truth? • From where does all matter come? • What is the nature of man? • Why does evil exist?
B. The Eighteenth century and philosophes • Philosophe: an Enlightenment philosopher • Natural rights • Tolerance • Opposed institutions based on privilege/tradition
B. The Eighteenth century and Philosophes • Can you be too positive? a. Leibniz – “God assuredly chooses always what is best.” b. Others believed that institutions, laws could be reformed to make “the best of all possible world” – through philosophy and scholarship c. We don’t always understand God – maybe it’s good and we just don’t get it (Pope) d. And then there’s Voltaire and Candide
C. Background to Candide • Targeted response to Leibniz, optimists • Response to the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 • Candide shows how human beings create human sufferings
C. Background to Candide • Plot a. Candide (from the word “candid”) – an innocent, a tabula rasa (blank slate) b. Believes that all is good c. Suffers greatly – in a variety of locales d. In the end, learns the secret to true happiness e. Picaresque – Candide is a picaro
D. Points to ponder while reading • Allusion – what does it mean when the story begins in a garden? • What is the inherent irony behind El Dorado? • Do you see any connections – in theme, in character, in style – between Candide and Don Quixote?Gulliver? A Modest Proposal • For all its focus on reason, this is a fairly idealistic era. What dangers of idealism does Candideillustrate? • Of all the miseries they have suffered, which is the worst? Conversely, of all the opportunities they encounter, in which does Candide find the most happiness? – Life lesson?
E. The text • Setting • Plot/conflict • Characters – • Candide • Baron/Baroness • Master Pangloss • Cunegund • Cacambo/Martin