This document provides an overview of Voltaire and the Enlightenment period. It discusses Voltaire's life, education, works, and role in popularizing Newtonian science and empiricism over Cartesian rationalism in France. It describes how Voltaire was influenced by Locke and Newton's empirical philosophies. It also summarizes Voltaire's rejection of philosophical optimism after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, as expressed in his work Candide, which satirized the belief that our world is the best of all possible worlds.
Voltaire introduces himself as one of the principal representatives of the Enlightenment. He was born in 1694 in Paris and became a prolific writer. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform and used his works to criticize religious dogma and institutions of his time. His ideas influenced the American and French Revolutions. He defended freedom of thought, tolerance, and justice. Most importantly, he advocated for limiting the king's power by establishing a parliament and implementing a fair tax system where all social classes pay equally.
Voltaire was a French writer, historian, and philosopher whose real name was François-Marie Arouet. Some of his most famous works included Candide, Philosophical Letters, and The Century of Louis XIV. Early in his life, Voltaire studied at a Jesuit college in Paris but wanted to study literature while his father wanted him to study law. He faced imprisonment in the Bastille for satirizing the French regime in an epigram. Through his literature, Voltaire criticized the French government, monarchy, and Catholic church, resulting in multiple imprisonments and exiles. His works influenced both the French and American revolutions.
Sir Francis Bacon was an English scholar born in 1561 in London who made significant contributions to science, literature and philosophy. He attended Trinity College at Cambridge University and studied law. Bacon served as a statesman and Lord Chancellor of England, writing numerous essays and works for the government. His influential works included Essays, The New Atlantis and establishing an empirical scientific method. Bacon helped reform Aristotelian philosophy and played a key role in the Scientific Revolution by advocating for a more practical, evidence-based approach to science.
Mary Shelley died in her sleep at the age of 54 on February 1, 1851 in London, where she had been living. It is believed the cause of her death was a brain tumor. She was a self-educated writer influenced by famous intellectual friends of her father like Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and published her first poem at age 10 before writing various works throughout her life. Her final resting place is in Saint Peter's Churchyard in Bournemouth, Dorset, England.
The document provides an overview of the Renaissance period in Europe from 1350-1600 CE. It discusses key ideas and developments including:
- The Renaissance marked a "rebirth" of art, literature, and ideas after the Middle Ages. This led some Europeans to leave the Catholic church and sparked the Reformation.
- The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy and spread north, influenced by trade between Europe and Africa and Greco-Roman culture.
- Italian city-states like Florence, Venice, and Milan played important roles in the origins and spread of Renaissance ideals. Powerful families like the Medicis in Florence supported artists.
- Renaissance art, architecture, and literature broke from medieval traditions through greater
War poetry emerged during wartime to express the extreme emotions of soldiers and civilians caught in conflict. It deals with questions of identity, humanity, and morality in relation to national crises. Modern poetry originated in the late 19th/early 20th century and is characterized by a break from tradition, the use of everyday language, and themes of dissatisfaction and existence. Both genres grapple with the horrors of war and disillusionment, but war poetry focuses more on personal experience of battle while modern poetry explores broader spiritual and philosophical issues.
Transcendentalism was a 19th century philosophical movement that believed truths can be discovered through intuition rather than the senses. It promoted a heightened awareness of the relationship between man and nature, prioritizing feelings over reason, and believed this could lead to a reformation of society away from materialism. Key characteristics included seeing nature as divine, a rejection of societal norms in favor of individualism and inner truth, and a focus on moral issues like abolition and women's rights through literature.
Voltaire introduces himself as one of the principal representatives of the Enlightenment. He was born in 1694 in Paris and became a prolific writer. He was an outspoken supporter of social reform and used his works to criticize religious dogma and institutions of his time. His ideas influenced the American and French Revolutions. He defended freedom of thought, tolerance, and justice. Most importantly, he advocated for limiting the king's power by establishing a parliament and implementing a fair tax system where all social classes pay equally.
Voltaire was a French writer, historian, and philosopher whose real name was François-Marie Arouet. Some of his most famous works included Candide, Philosophical Letters, and The Century of Louis XIV. Early in his life, Voltaire studied at a Jesuit college in Paris but wanted to study literature while his father wanted him to study law. He faced imprisonment in the Bastille for satirizing the French regime in an epigram. Through his literature, Voltaire criticized the French government, monarchy, and Catholic church, resulting in multiple imprisonments and exiles. His works influenced both the French and American revolutions.
Sir Francis Bacon was an English scholar born in 1561 in London who made significant contributions to science, literature and philosophy. He attended Trinity College at Cambridge University and studied law. Bacon served as a statesman and Lord Chancellor of England, writing numerous essays and works for the government. His influential works included Essays, The New Atlantis and establishing an empirical scientific method. Bacon helped reform Aristotelian philosophy and played a key role in the Scientific Revolution by advocating for a more practical, evidence-based approach to science.
Mary Shelley died in her sleep at the age of 54 on February 1, 1851 in London, where she had been living. It is believed the cause of her death was a brain tumor. She was a self-educated writer influenced by famous intellectual friends of her father like Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and published her first poem at age 10 before writing various works throughout her life. Her final resting place is in Saint Peter's Churchyard in Bournemouth, Dorset, England.
The document provides an overview of the Renaissance period in Europe from 1350-1600 CE. It discusses key ideas and developments including:
- The Renaissance marked a "rebirth" of art, literature, and ideas after the Middle Ages. This led some Europeans to leave the Catholic church and sparked the Reformation.
- The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy and spread north, influenced by trade between Europe and Africa and Greco-Roman culture.
- Italian city-states like Florence, Venice, and Milan played important roles in the origins and spread of Renaissance ideals. Powerful families like the Medicis in Florence supported artists.
- Renaissance art, architecture, and literature broke from medieval traditions through greater
War poetry emerged during wartime to express the extreme emotions of soldiers and civilians caught in conflict. It deals with questions of identity, humanity, and morality in relation to national crises. Modern poetry originated in the late 19th/early 20th century and is characterized by a break from tradition, the use of everyday language, and themes of dissatisfaction and existence. Both genres grapple with the horrors of war and disillusionment, but war poetry focuses more on personal experience of battle while modern poetry explores broader spiritual and philosophical issues.
Transcendentalism was a 19th century philosophical movement that believed truths can be discovered through intuition rather than the senses. It promoted a heightened awareness of the relationship between man and nature, prioritizing feelings over reason, and believed this could lead to a reformation of society away from materialism. Key characteristics included seeing nature as divine, a rejection of societal norms in favor of individualism and inner truth, and a focus on moral issues like abolition and women's rights through literature.
Voltaire was a French writer and philosopher born in 1694 in Paris. He was originally named Francois-Marie Arouet but took the name Voltaire while imprisoned from 1717 to 1718 for criticizing the French monarchy. After his imprisonment, he went into exile in England from 1726 to 1729 where he was influenced by ideas of tolerance and constitutional monarchy. Voltaire was a leading voice during the Enlightenment, using his plays, poems, and writings to challenge the beliefs of the time and advocate for freedom of religion, secular government, and social reform. His works influenced the ideas that led to the French Revolution and he left a legacy as one of the most important defenders of civil
Baroque painting is characterized by complicated compositions with different centers of attention, dynamic and complicated lines often using diagonals, and rich colors designed to create dramatic effects. Major Baroque painters include Caravaggio who used strong contrasts of light, Carracci who combined naturalism with idealization, Rubens who achieved balance between realism and idealism, Rembrandt with his mastery of light and shadow, and Velazquez who gave equal importance to subjects from royal portraits to everyday scenes. Rococo painting featured sensual beauty and depictions of high society, with Watteau, Fragonard, and Tiepolo portraying elegant figures in vibrant colors.
This document provides historical context about American literature between 1850 and 1914, specifically focusing on the Realism and Naturalism movements. It describes the growth of science, industry, and population in this time period. The idealism of earlier periods was seen as outdated, leading writers to focus more on ordinary characters and everyday reality. Realism aimed to depict life as it really was, while Naturalism saw larger forces like heredity and environment as determining individual destiny. The document also discusses Regionalism and the "Literature of Discontent" that addressed social issues. Prominent authors from this period included Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, Bret Harte, Jack London, and Kate Chopin.
The Aesthetic Movement focused on language of the senses, excessive attention to the self, and hedonism. Artists like Gautier and Pater believed that art should be appreciated solely for its beauty, rejecting moral or social messages. They sought intense sensation and lived unconventional lives focused on art, beauty, and pleasure. Walter Pater argued that life should be lived and experienced intensely through one's senses like a work of art, without reference to conventional morality. Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray explores these themes through a young man whose beauty and hedonism are preserved while his portrait ages in his place.
The document provides an overview of the Early Renaissance period in Italy from 1400-1490. It summarizes the rise of prominent city-states like Florence and key families that sponsored the arts, such as the Medicis. Major artists that emerged during this time are also profiled, including painters like Masaccio, Botticelli, and Ghirlandaio who pioneered techniques like linear perspective. Contemporary architects like Brunelleschi and Alberti are highlighted for their classical designs of buildings and structures. Leading sculptors of the era included Ghiberti, Donatello, and Verrocchio, who drew inspiration from Roman and Greek works.
Louis XIV ruled France from 1643 until his death in 1715. He consolidated power and reformed France's government and taxation system during his early reign. Louis engaged in numerous wars throughout Europe to expand French territory, though this eventually led to hostility from other nations. By the 1680s, Louis faced open opposition both for his aggressive foreign policy and revocation of rights for French Protestants. His costly wars left France financially devastated by the time of his death.
Romanticism is characterized by five "I"s: imagination, intuition, idealism, inspiration, and individualism. Romantics emphasized imagination over reason and valued feelings and instincts. They saw the individual artist as a creative genius and celebrated nature as a source of spiritual renewal. Romantic works often portrayed heroes who strived beyond social norms and embraced the exotic and uncivilized.
The document summarizes the Neoclassical period in literature from 1660-1790. It was divided into three stages: the Restoration period from 1660-1700 which saw a dominance of French and classical influences; the Augustan Age which imitated the style of ancient Roman writers like Virgil and Horace; and the Age of Johnson in the mid-1700s. Major writers of the period included John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Daniel Defoe who wrote works like Absalom and Achitophel, The Rape of the Lock, Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe. The Neoclassical period was characterized by an emphasis on reason and order as well
Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and construction produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly coincides with the 17th century. The earliest manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from the latter decades of the 16th century, while in some regions, notably Germany and colonial South America, certain culminating achievements of Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The work that distinguishes the Baroque period is stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general, however, the desire to evoke emotional states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the qualities most frequently associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality, movement, tension, emotional exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions between the various arts.
The Victorian period in England from 1830-1901 was characterized by:
- Queen Victoria's long rule from 1837-1901 and the Victorian values of earnestness, morality, and propriety.
- A time of peace, prosperity, and rapid industrialization as Britain became the world's leading imperial power.
- Significant social reforms addressing issues like child labor, slavery, and workers' rights in response to problems of the era.
- Cultural and literary achievements including the rise of the novel as a dominant form and works addressing social issues by authors like Dickens.
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was a conflict fought primarily in Germany between Catholics and Protestants. While religious differences played a role, the goals of the various powers involved were mainly geopolitical, such as German princes seeking autonomy and France attempting to limit Hapsburg power. The war occurred in phases involving Bohemia, Denmark, Sweden, and finally France and Sweden against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. It culminated in the Peace of Westphalia, which granted sovereignty to German princes and greater religious tolerance while curbing Hapsburg power. The war devastated Germany and marked the end of the age of religious wars in Europe.
Thomas Paine wrote the influential pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1776 to encourage American independence from Britain. The pamphlet was written in simple terms for common people to understand and helped shift public opinion towards accepting the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, Paine traveled with the Continental Army and wrote the "American Crisis" papers between 1776-1783 to motivate the soldiers, especially those at Valley Forge. His writing skills were valuable for inspiring the colonists and troops despite his inability to serve as a soldier.
The French Revolution underwent several phases from 1789 to 1799, beginning with the meeting of the Estates-General and ending with the rise of Napoleon. Key events included the storming of the Bastille, the establishment of the National Assembly and constitutional monarchy, the overthrow of the monarchy and establishment of the First French Republic, the Reign of Terror under Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, and the eventual rise of the Directory and then the Consulate under Napoleon in 1799. Different social groups and political factions vied for power as France transitioned through these turbulent years.
The document provides an overview of the Age of Enlightenment, including its key stages, roots in England, main concepts, and results. The Age of Enlightenment was a period from the 17th to early 19th centuries that witnessed progress in science, politics, and philosophical discourse. It emphasized reason, the scientific method, and the idea that society would progress over time. Some results included increased political freedom, the scientific revolution, and greater religious tolerance. The document also profiles several influential Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Denis Diderot, Benjamin Franklin, and Voltaire.
This document discusses music in the 20th century, covering classical music styles from 1900-1950 and after 1950, as well as folk and popular styles like jazz, music theatre, and rock. For classical music, it describes how musical elements like melody, rhythm, and harmony diverged from tradition and analyses styles including impressionism, nationalism, neoclassicism, expressionism, serialism, and avant-garde. It also briefly outlines the development of jazz, music theatre, and rock during this period.
This document discusses several key themes and concepts of Romanticism:
1) It explores how social advancement is portrayed in literature through works like Great Expectations and Jane Eyre.
2) It examines how writers saw it as their duty to "civilize" native populations through literature.
3) It analyzes how Romantic poets found inspiration from subjectivity and personal experiences like John Keats' "Ode to the Nightingale."
4) It discusses how imagination was seen as a way to transform reality for poets like Coleridge and Wordsworth.
5) It describes how Romantic poets like Byron, Shelley, and Keats drew inspiration from Greece and the ancient world.
The Enlightenment was an 18th century intellectual movement that promoted rational thinking and scientific inquiry over religious dogma and tradition. Enlightenment thinkers applied scientific principles to philosophy and politics and advocated the use of reason to reform society. Key figures like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau influenced revolutions in America and France and shaped modern concepts of government, rights, and education. Enlightenment principles also inspired reforms by monarchs across Europe seeking to modernize their nations according to rational principles.
The document summarizes key figures in the Tudor dynasty, the ruling family during the English Renaissance period. It describes Henry VII restoring stability after the Wars of the Roses. It then discusses Henry VIII establishing himself as head of the Church of England which led to separating from Rome. Edward VI was England's first Protestant ruler but died young. Lady Jane Grey then briefly claimed the throne before Mary I took over and restored Catholicism, earning her the name "Bloody Mary". Finally, Elizabeth I succeeded Mary I and re-established Protestantism during her long reign.
Essay On Voltaire
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Candide by Voltaire Essay example
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Essay Voltaire
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The document summarizes French philosophers from the Enlightenment era and their ideas. It discusses key philosophers like Descartes, Rousseau, and Voltaire and how they questioned authority and promoted reason. The Enlightenment challenged the dominance of the monarchy and church through new scientific thought and philosophy. French thinkers had immense influence by promoting ideas like separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and democracy.
Voltaire was a French writer and philosopher born in 1694 in Paris. He was originally named Francois-Marie Arouet but took the name Voltaire while imprisoned from 1717 to 1718 for criticizing the French monarchy. After his imprisonment, he went into exile in England from 1726 to 1729 where he was influenced by ideas of tolerance and constitutional monarchy. Voltaire was a leading voice during the Enlightenment, using his plays, poems, and writings to challenge the beliefs of the time and advocate for freedom of religion, secular government, and social reform. His works influenced the ideas that led to the French Revolution and he left a legacy as one of the most important defenders of civil
Baroque painting is characterized by complicated compositions with different centers of attention, dynamic and complicated lines often using diagonals, and rich colors designed to create dramatic effects. Major Baroque painters include Caravaggio who used strong contrasts of light, Carracci who combined naturalism with idealization, Rubens who achieved balance between realism and idealism, Rembrandt with his mastery of light and shadow, and Velazquez who gave equal importance to subjects from royal portraits to everyday scenes. Rococo painting featured sensual beauty and depictions of high society, with Watteau, Fragonard, and Tiepolo portraying elegant figures in vibrant colors.
This document provides historical context about American literature between 1850 and 1914, specifically focusing on the Realism and Naturalism movements. It describes the growth of science, industry, and population in this time period. The idealism of earlier periods was seen as outdated, leading writers to focus more on ordinary characters and everyday reality. Realism aimed to depict life as it really was, while Naturalism saw larger forces like heredity and environment as determining individual destiny. The document also discusses Regionalism and the "Literature of Discontent" that addressed social issues. Prominent authors from this period included Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, Bret Harte, Jack London, and Kate Chopin.
The Aesthetic Movement focused on language of the senses, excessive attention to the self, and hedonism. Artists like Gautier and Pater believed that art should be appreciated solely for its beauty, rejecting moral or social messages. They sought intense sensation and lived unconventional lives focused on art, beauty, and pleasure. Walter Pater argued that life should be lived and experienced intensely through one's senses like a work of art, without reference to conventional morality. Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray explores these themes through a young man whose beauty and hedonism are preserved while his portrait ages in his place.
The document provides an overview of the Early Renaissance period in Italy from 1400-1490. It summarizes the rise of prominent city-states like Florence and key families that sponsored the arts, such as the Medicis. Major artists that emerged during this time are also profiled, including painters like Masaccio, Botticelli, and Ghirlandaio who pioneered techniques like linear perspective. Contemporary architects like Brunelleschi and Alberti are highlighted for their classical designs of buildings and structures. Leading sculptors of the era included Ghiberti, Donatello, and Verrocchio, who drew inspiration from Roman and Greek works.
Louis XIV ruled France from 1643 until his death in 1715. He consolidated power and reformed France's government and taxation system during his early reign. Louis engaged in numerous wars throughout Europe to expand French territory, though this eventually led to hostility from other nations. By the 1680s, Louis faced open opposition both for his aggressive foreign policy and revocation of rights for French Protestants. His costly wars left France financially devastated by the time of his death.
Romanticism is characterized by five "I"s: imagination, intuition, idealism, inspiration, and individualism. Romantics emphasized imagination over reason and valued feelings and instincts. They saw the individual artist as a creative genius and celebrated nature as a source of spiritual renewal. Romantic works often portrayed heroes who strived beyond social norms and embraced the exotic and uncivilized.
The document summarizes the Neoclassical period in literature from 1660-1790. It was divided into three stages: the Restoration period from 1660-1700 which saw a dominance of French and classical influences; the Augustan Age which imitated the style of ancient Roman writers like Virgil and Horace; and the Age of Johnson in the mid-1700s. Major writers of the period included John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, and Daniel Defoe who wrote works like Absalom and Achitophel, The Rape of the Lock, Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe. The Neoclassical period was characterized by an emphasis on reason and order as well
Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and construction produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly coincides with the 17th century. The earliest manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from the latter decades of the 16th century, while in some regions, notably Germany and colonial South America, certain culminating achievements of Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The work that distinguishes the Baroque period is stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general, however, the desire to evoke emotional states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the qualities most frequently associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality, movement, tension, emotional exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions between the various arts.
The Victorian period in England from 1830-1901 was characterized by:
- Queen Victoria's long rule from 1837-1901 and the Victorian values of earnestness, morality, and propriety.
- A time of peace, prosperity, and rapid industrialization as Britain became the world's leading imperial power.
- Significant social reforms addressing issues like child labor, slavery, and workers' rights in response to problems of the era.
- Cultural and literary achievements including the rise of the novel as a dominant form and works addressing social issues by authors like Dickens.
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was a conflict fought primarily in Germany between Catholics and Protestants. While religious differences played a role, the goals of the various powers involved were mainly geopolitical, such as German princes seeking autonomy and France attempting to limit Hapsburg power. The war occurred in phases involving Bohemia, Denmark, Sweden, and finally France and Sweden against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. It culminated in the Peace of Westphalia, which granted sovereignty to German princes and greater religious tolerance while curbing Hapsburg power. The war devastated Germany and marked the end of the age of religious wars in Europe.
Thomas Paine wrote the influential pamphlet "Common Sense" in 1776 to encourage American independence from Britain. The pamphlet was written in simple terms for common people to understand and helped shift public opinion towards accepting the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War, Paine traveled with the Continental Army and wrote the "American Crisis" papers between 1776-1783 to motivate the soldiers, especially those at Valley Forge. His writing skills were valuable for inspiring the colonists and troops despite his inability to serve as a soldier.
The French Revolution underwent several phases from 1789 to 1799, beginning with the meeting of the Estates-General and ending with the rise of Napoleon. Key events included the storming of the Bastille, the establishment of the National Assembly and constitutional monarchy, the overthrow of the monarchy and establishment of the First French Republic, the Reign of Terror under Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety, and the eventual rise of the Directory and then the Consulate under Napoleon in 1799. Different social groups and political factions vied for power as France transitioned through these turbulent years.
The document provides an overview of the Age of Enlightenment, including its key stages, roots in England, main concepts, and results. The Age of Enlightenment was a period from the 17th to early 19th centuries that witnessed progress in science, politics, and philosophical discourse. It emphasized reason, the scientific method, and the idea that society would progress over time. Some results included increased political freedom, the scientific revolution, and greater religious tolerance. The document also profiles several influential Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Denis Diderot, Benjamin Franklin, and Voltaire.
This document discusses music in the 20th century, covering classical music styles from 1900-1950 and after 1950, as well as folk and popular styles like jazz, music theatre, and rock. For classical music, it describes how musical elements like melody, rhythm, and harmony diverged from tradition and analyses styles including impressionism, nationalism, neoclassicism, expressionism, serialism, and avant-garde. It also briefly outlines the development of jazz, music theatre, and rock during this period.
This document discusses several key themes and concepts of Romanticism:
1) It explores how social advancement is portrayed in literature through works like Great Expectations and Jane Eyre.
2) It examines how writers saw it as their duty to "civilize" native populations through literature.
3) It analyzes how Romantic poets found inspiration from subjectivity and personal experiences like John Keats' "Ode to the Nightingale."
4) It discusses how imagination was seen as a way to transform reality for poets like Coleridge and Wordsworth.
5) It describes how Romantic poets like Byron, Shelley, and Keats drew inspiration from Greece and the ancient world.
The Enlightenment was an 18th century intellectual movement that promoted rational thinking and scientific inquiry over religious dogma and tradition. Enlightenment thinkers applied scientific principles to philosophy and politics and advocated the use of reason to reform society. Key figures like Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau influenced revolutions in America and France and shaped modern concepts of government, rights, and education. Enlightenment principles also inspired reforms by monarchs across Europe seeking to modernize their nations according to rational principles.
The document summarizes key figures in the Tudor dynasty, the ruling family during the English Renaissance period. It describes Henry VII restoring stability after the Wars of the Roses. It then discusses Henry VIII establishing himself as head of the Church of England which led to separating from Rome. Edward VI was England's first Protestant ruler but died young. Lady Jane Grey then briefly claimed the throne before Mary I took over and restored Catholicism, earning her the name "Bloody Mary". Finally, Elizabeth I succeeded Mary I and re-established Protestantism during her long reign.
Essay On Voltaire
Voltaires Impact On Voltaire
Voltaire
Voltaire Research Paper
Voltaire Rationalism
Voltaire And Socrates
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Voltaire Biography Essay
Candide by Voltaire Essay example
Voltaire
Essay Voltaire
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Candide by Voltaire Essay
The document summarizes French philosophers from the Enlightenment era and their ideas. It discusses key philosophers like Descartes, Rousseau, and Voltaire and how they questioned authority and promoted reason. The Enlightenment challenged the dominance of the monarchy and church through new scientific thought and philosophy. French thinkers had immense influence by promoting ideas like separation of church and state, freedom of speech, and democracy.
Plato was an influential ancient Greek philosopher who established the Academy, considered the first university in Europe. He made major contributions to philosophy, including his theory of forms and insights into Socrates' teachings. He believed genuine knowledge could be gained from understanding the wider universe through reason and questioning. Plato recognized the need for division of labor and established a political model where people could work together for mutual benefit.
This document provides an overview of the major periods and themes of European literature from the Renaissance to Postmodernism. It discusses the key influences, works, and authors of each period, including the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Victorian Period, Modernism, and Postmodernism. The document serves as a guide to understanding the major shifts in European literature across history.
The philosophes were groups of thinkers in 18th century France who met to discuss social and political issues and solutions to social problems. They rejected the ideas of absolute monarchy and favored democracy. Some of the most influential philosophes included Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. They believed that reason and science should guide society rather than religion or tradition. Their ideas helped spark the French Revolution by challenging the status quo and authority of the monarchy and church.
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This course provides an introduction to modern philosophy from the 17th to early 19th century. It will focus on the major philosophical movements of rationalism, empiricism, and transcendental idealism. The rationalists, such as Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, sought certain philosophical knowledge modeled on mathematics. Empiricists like Locke, Berkeley, and Hume believed philosophy must be based on sensory experience. Kant aimed to overcome the crisis of skepticism through transcendental idealism. The course will emphasize the clear writings of Descartes, Berkeley, and Hume but cover other pivotal thinkers like Locke and Kant as well. It will examine the important philosophical topics of metaphysics, philosophy
Introduction to mary shelley’s frankensteinjberneche
This document provides historical context for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by discussing several key events that shaped her consciousness, including the Scientific Revolution which challenged religious doctrine, the Enlightenment idea that science could transform society, Rousseau's philosophy of living in accordance with nature, and the French Revolution's reaction against oppression. These intellectual movements established ideas of spontaneity and freedom over obedience, science over religion, and nature as something to worship that informed Shelley's creation of Frankenstein and its themes.
The Enlightenment Age and Thinkers.pptxNathanMoyo1
The document discusses the Age of Enlightenment, which took place from the 17th to early 19th centuries. It was a period that witnessed progress in science, politics, and philosophical discourse. Key aspects included replacing tradition with reason, exploration, tolerance, and scientific endeavor. The Enlightenment promoted reason, the scientific method, and the idea that society and human understanding would continue to progress. It influenced movements for political freedom, religious tolerance, and the scientific revolution. The document also outlines the main Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and their contributions.
World Lit II - Class Notes for March 13, 2012Michael Broder
This document provides an overview of a World Literature II course covering major authors and texts from the Renaissance to the present. It outlines the course objectives, lists authors and texts to be covered, and provides historical context on the periods in which the authors wrote, including the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, and more recent eras. Key topics discussed include humanism, the human condition, the influence of the Church, intellectual movements like the Reformation, and changing economic and social systems over time.
This document provides an overview of 18th century English literature during the Age of Pope from 1700-1745. It describes the intellectual and literary trends of the time, including the emphasis on rationalism and classicism in the works of writers like Pope, Swift, Johnson, and others. The document also gives biographical overviews of some of the major literary figures from the period, such as Pope, Defoe, and Swift, and discusses their most prominent works.
The document discusses the key ideas and figures of the Enlightenment period in the 18th century. It explains how the Enlightenment built upon the Scientific Revolution by applying rational thinking to understand human society and governance. It outlines philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu and their criticisms of religious institutions and absolutist rule. It also highlights the importance of Diderot's Encyclopedia in disseminating knowledge widely and fueling public debate during the Enlightenment.
This document provides an overview of the Renaissance period in England from 1485 to 1625. It discusses the influence of humanism on Renaissance thinkers and their new fields of study focusing on mankind rather than God. It profiles important figures like Thomas More and his book Utopia, as well as the reigns of Henry VIII, who broke from the Catholic church, and Queen Elizabeth I, during whose time the arts flourished. The document also outlines literary forms of the era and notable authors including Philip Sydney, Edmund Spenser, Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, and John Webster.
Victorian attitudes were shaped by religious Evangelicalism and the philosophy of Utilitarianism, which emphasized hard work, moral seriousness, and using reason to determine what was useful. However, new scientific ideas like Darwin's theory of evolution challenged religious beliefs. Intellectuals like Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin criticized aspects of industrial society and materialism. Toward the late Victorian period, the Art for Art's Sake movement emerged, championed by Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde, focusing on beauty and aesthetic experience rather than moral or social messages in art. Overall, the period saw debates between traditional and new intellectual ideas.
The document discusses Enlightenment thinkers and their beliefs. It states that Enlightenment thinkers believed in using their own intellectual reasoning to determine what to believe and how to act, competing with traditional authorities. They supported ideas even if they went against customs, viewing independent reasoning as a path to a better human existence. It then lists some of the most well-known Enlightenment writers such as John Locke, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Denis Diderot, and provides brief biographies of each.
The document provides an overview of British literature during the Victorian Age from 1832-1900. Some key details include:
- The Victorian Age saw enormous political, social, and technological changes in Britain and worldwide due to industrialization and colonial expansion.
- Queen Victoria had the longest reign in British history from 1837-1901 and oversaw the growth of the British Empire to its largest extent.
- Popular literary genres of the time included realism, naturalism, novels, and poetry. Novels by the Brontë sisters and Charles Dickens were very popular, as were poems by Tennyson and the Brownings.
period#2-meagan roldan-How did voltaire influence the early enlightenment in ...mrsalcido
Voltaire influenced the Early Enlightenment in England and France through his philosophies of deism and challenging established religious doctrines. He published works like Candide that promoted deism and questioning the power of the church. Voltaire also associated with other philosophers who helped spread new ideas and influence the growing Enlightenment movement in both countries.
The document provides an overview of European literature from the Renaissance period to Post-Modernism. It discusses the key characteristics and influences of each major movement as well as lists important works and authors for each period. The periods covered include Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, Victorian, Modernism, and Post-Modernism. Tables of contents and subtitles structure the information within each defined historical period.
Research quality, bibliometrics and the republic ofmpt001
This document discusses the history of knowledge organization and bibliometrics. It begins by outlining different ideologies of knowledge that emerged from the English Renaissance, French Enlightenment, and modern information economy. It then discusses the origins of bibliographies, journals, and peer review in the 17th century. Finally, it addresses the development of bibliometrics and its role in quality assurance and governance of science. Key points include the ideological drives behind encyclopedias like Diderot's to make knowledge widely accessible, and the establishment of peer review and bibliometrics in shaping the "Republic of Science."
2. Voltaire
(1694-1778)
pseudonym of
Francois Marie Arouet
• Voltaire was the most
influential author of the 18th
century, an epochal period
that changed the thinking and
culture of Western Europe.
• He wrote many hundreds of
published works and well over
20,000 letters.
• Voltaire’s published works
range from light verse to epic
poetry, drama, narrative
fiction, essays, a dictionary,
philosophical treatises,
scientific popularizations to
the genre he created, the
“philosophical tale” (Kors 1, 452).
3. Voltaire grew up during the
Reign of Louis XIV of France
• Although orthodoxy and
censorship limited candor,
France under Louis XIV was
in a state of intellectual
ferment.
• Because of his wars, the last
15-20 years of Louis XIV’s
reign had led to widespread
suffering, crippling taxation,
agricultural crises and famine.
• Indirect criticism of Louis’
reign took the form of
idealized portrait of great
rulers of the past, but moral
and political criticism of the
monarchy was widespread
(Kors 2, 452). Louis XIV
4. Voltaire’s Education
• From ages of 10-17,
Voltaire attended Louis-le-
Grand, the Jesuit college in
Paris which had the finest
teachers in France.
• His fellow students were
French aristocrats who
would later provide
invaluable patronage,
protection and influence in
Voltaire’s life (Kors 2, 452).
5. Voltaire’s Jesuit Education
• Jesuits gave their students a deep
grounding in logic, disputation and
rhetoric, including the categories of
logic, the analysis of argument and
the study of debate.
• Students were encouraged to look
for possible objections to what they
were being taught or were trying to
prove. This way of thinking became
a habit of mind for the students.
• Classics and modern analysis of the
classics were stressed.
• Thus,Voltaire and his fellow students
studied the finest pre-Christian
models of learning, which were
themselves heterodoxical, anti-religious,
and satirical (Kors 2, 452).
6. • In 1715, France experienced Arouet to Voltaire
the cultural revolution of the
Regency of Phillippe, Duc
d’Orleans. Censorship was
lessened and previously
suppressed ideas flourished.
• In 1714, Voltaire was
introduced to the Societe du
Temple, which became his
intellectual home until 1723.
The society encouraged his
poetry and introduced him to
naturalistic epistemology,
epicureanism, and the
members’ indifference to
religion,
• Voltaire became a courtier in
Versailles, where his wit and
eloquence served him well.
The Regent and later the King
Voltaire at age 24
and Queen gave him pensions.
7. Imprisonment in the Bastille
• “In 1718, Voltaire enjoyed a
first and stunning literary
success with his tragedy
Oedipe (0edipus), changed his
name from Arouet to Voltaire
and enjoyed literary triumph,
fame and wealth.
• He inherited his father’s wealth
in 1724 and invested it
extremely well.
• However, at the height of his
fame and influence, Voltaire
experienced humiliation,
imprisonment and exile to
England” (Kors 2, 452).
8. Voltaire in the Bastille
In 1726, while at the theater, Voltaire made a clever remark
to the Chevalier de Rohan, a young nobleman, who
resented that Voltaire made him look like a fool. To get
even, Rohan had several men give Voltaire a serious
beating, which he watched from his carriage. Furious,
Voltaire took fencing lessons and planned to challenge
Rohan to a duel, but the Chevalier refused to duel with a
commoner. To avoid a problem, the powerful Rohan family
had a lettre de cachet issued and Voltaire was arrested and
taken to the Bastille. While in the Bastille for 11 months,
Voltaire began his great epic on Henry IV, The Henriade. He
was eventually released from prison after promising that he
would leave France and go to England. (Birkenstock).
9. Philosophical Letters
• Voltaire’s influential work
was based on his
observations while he
was exiled in England.
• In it, Voltaire describes
and implicitly praises
English religious
toleration.
• Most importantly, he
celebrates Newtonian
(English) over Cartesian
(French) physics (Kors 3-
4, 452)
10. Rene
Descartes
• Many in France celebrated the 17th
century revolutions in science and
philosophy chauvinistically. French
readers favored French authors,
especially Descartes.
• Descartes’ philosophy was based
on accepted generalizations,
rationally certain, clear and distinct
ideas that he felt that we find
innate in our minds. From these,
we may deduce by logic our
knowledge of the world.
• To Voltaire, Cartesian philosophy
relied upon, for its premises, ideas
that had no empirical basis other
than being generally accepted.
(Kors 3, 452).
11. John Locke
• For Voltaire, Locke’s
sensationalism—his value
for only that knowledge that
we can verify through the
experience of our senses—
was superior to Descartes’
rationalism with its doctrine
of innate ideas. Locke’s
philosophy links us to the
“things of this world” and
makes authentic scientific
knowledge possible.
• Voltaire also wanted to
popularize Locke’s view that
if our knowledge is all
derived from our
experience, then our
knowledge is limited to our
experience (Kors 3, 452).
12. • Unlike Descartes, Locke avoided theorizing about the
substance or nature of the mind, an issue at the time.
For Locke, this question is beyond human
experience.
•Voltaire defended Locke’s argument that philosophical
skepticism is the only honest conclusion in metaphysical
matter. He felt that the only honest conclusion in
metaphysical matters is to admit ignorance (Kors 3, 452).
13. Isaac Newton
• To Voltaire, the culminating
achievement of Bacon’s
method and Locke’s
epistemology was Newton’s
empiricism.
• Empiricism is moving from the
particulars of our experience
to generalizations which are
derived from these particulars
and can be tested against
them.
• Voltaire’s Philosophical
Letters praises Newton’s
physics over abstract
metaphysical speculation (Kors
447).
14. Return to France
• On his return to France, Voltaire proudly
published the Philosophical Letters (1734). He
believed them to be moderate and non-controversial.
• Vehement critics cried that Voltaire was
advocating Quakerism, undermining the
Christian religion, fomenting rebellion in France
and attacking Divine Providence.
• The clergy and secular authorities were furious
and demanded his arrest.
Facing both prosecution and persecution,
Voltaire was exiled from Paris until 1778, the
year of his death (Kors 5,452).
15. Emilie du Chatelet, a friend he had met in Paris, offered
Voltaire refuge at her chateau in Cirey.
Gabrielle-Emilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil,
Marquise du Chatelet
.
16. At Cirey…
• Voltaire and Emilie had met in the
spring of 1733 and became
companions immediately. Friends
when the Marquise du Chatelet
invited Voltaire to live at her
crumbling chateau, Emilie du
Chatelet and Voltaire became lovers
and intellectual collaborators in a
relationship that lasted fifteen years.
• During this period, Cirey became a
center of Newtonian study and
persuasion. Almost all of the great
Continental minds who sought to
convert European thinkers from
Descartes’s philosophy and physics
to those of Newton came to Cirey.
• Voltaire and Mme. Du Chatelet
played critical roles in winning the
Continent over to Newtonian
science.
17. “The Divine Emilie”
• Madame du Chatelet was one of the foremost
Newtonians and thinkers of 18th-Century France.
• Born in 1706 into an upper class family in Paris, where
her father the Baron de Breteuil was Principal Secretary
and Introducer of Ambassadors to Louis XIV, Emilie had
high social prestige when she entered society as an
adult.
• In the 18th century, women were excluded from
educational realms that men reserved for themselves. To
overcome this problem, Emilie hired professors to teach
her geometry, algebra, calculus, and physics. Much of
her education was self-taught and she spent from 8 to 12
hours a day on study, research, and writing. Throughout
her life, the subjects that interested Emilie most were
physics, the sciences, mathematics, philosophy, and
metaphysics (Kors 5, 452).
18. “Lady Newton”
• Mme. du Chatelet had mastered Newton’s optics, complex
mathematics and physics. She understood Newton’s
position that where scientific knowledge to answer a
question does not exist, one does not feign a hypothesis
that cannot be confirmed to explain the phenomenon.
• A deist, she wrote scientific treatises that were taken
seriously by the finest scientific minds of Europe, and she
translated the whole of Newton’s Principia Mathematica into
French.
• She had also mastered metaphysical philosophy and was a
critical student of both the Old and New Testaments, which
was rare in France at that time. She introduced Voltaire to
biblical study (Kors 4, 452).
19. Voltaire’s Years at Cirey
At Cirey, Voltaire was happy, energetic and productive, working in almost
all genres, including…
• Elements of Newton’s Philosophy—explicates Newtonian thought simply
and directly, including the theories of optics, gravitation, and action at a
distance.
• Treatise on Metaphysics— draws out the implication of Lockean
philosophy for the limitations on human knowledge and provides the
foundation for an empirical, natural theology.
• The Worldly Man—a celebration in verse of luxury over austerity, criticizing
the concept of the Garden of Eden as paradise.
• A Discourse in Verse on Man—addresses humans’ search for happiness
and the concept of liberty.
• Mohomet—a drama, dedicated to the Pope, who sent Voltaire a medal in
honor of his play on the religious fanaticism of Muhammed and his
followers. This infuriated the clerics of France and enchanted Voltaire. His
reputation and fame soared.
• In this period of time, he became tutor by correspondence to Prince
Frederick of Prussia, the future King Frederick II (Kors 5, 452).
20. 1749-59, a Dark Decade
• The death of Emilie du Chatelet in 1749 devastated
Voltaire. Depressed and homeless, he could not go to
Paris or remain in France because of the deep animosity
of the clergy to his influence and his writings.
• For a brief period, he lived at the court of Frederick II. It
didn’t go well.
• In 1755, he gained permission to live in Protestant
Geneva, where he purchased an estate, Ferney, in
1759.
• In 1756, his protégé Frederick plunged Europe into war.
• Famine threatened, lovers died, war spread…and
philosophers were saying that this is the best of all
possible worlds.
21. Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne
(Poem on the Lisbon disaster)
22. Leibniz and Theodicy
• Emilie du Chatelet had introduced Voltaire to Essays on
Theodicy, in which Gottfried Leibniz addressed the question
of why evil exists in a world created by God. “Theodicy” is
that branch of philosophy that addresses the problem of evil.
Leibniz’s optimistic philosophy initially appealed to Voltaire’s
deism.
• In Theodicy, Leibniz argues that God, who is infinitely wise,
powerful and good, would not create a perfect world,
because He is the only perfect being. As God will create,
therefore, an imperfect world, it logically follows, “the best of
all possible worlds.”
• It further follows that God chose everything in the creation
as necessary to the existence of the best of all possible
worlds. Therefore, nothing is truly “evil.” God has a
sufficient reason for all things, and if we had God’s
knowledge, we would understand the good of what we might
think, from our limited perspective, to be evil (Kors 6, 452).
23. Voltaire and Optimism
• Voltaire had always felt a tension about this
philosophical optimism; in the 1750s, he came to
reject it.
• The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 raised the
question, “How can the evil and suffering of the
world be reconciled with the goodness of God?”
• Voltaire addressed this question in his Poem on
the Lisbon Earthquake, describing the suffering
caused by the earthquake and asking why an
omnipotent God could not have created a world
without such catastrophes (Kors 6, 452).
24. Lisbon Earthquake
• The Lisbon earthquake of November 1,1755
seared Voltaire’s consciousness and deeply
affected Europe’s intellectual life.
• Voltaire questioned how the evil produced by
nature’s general laws could be reconciled with
the providence of God.
• In his “Poem on the Lisbon Earthquake,” Voltaire
argued that evil is real and incomprehensible.
Rather than attempt to understand God, we
should devote our love and attention to suffering
humanity.
• The arbitrariness of survival motivated Candide.
25. To Voltaire, philosophical optimism equals
fatalism: if “whatever is, is right,” then one’s
attempts to mitigate suffering do not matter.
26. Poem on the Lisbon Earthquake
For Voltaire, one must choose between a
Leibnizian optimism that denies the existence of
evil and a cry of humanistic anguish that admits
it.
• Philosophical explanations of suffering add insult
to injury.
• Evil is real and incomprehensible.
• God exists, but we cannot understand his
providence.
• Humanity, not God, requires our love and
attention (Kors 6, 452).
27. In Rousseau’s Stinging Reply to the Poem on the
Lisbon Earthquate, he asserts that:
• Voltaire has written against
God and denied humans
their solace,
• Our rational knowledge of
God’s nature and necessary
creation of the best of all
possible worlds wholly
outweighs the appearances
of things, and
• Cities are centers of
corruption; humans were
meant to live simply in the
countryside.
• According to Rousseau, God
put earthquakes in nature so
we would know how to live
(Kors 6, 452).
28. Candide or Optimism
• The word optimism was coined in the 18th century
for a philosophical position which has only a distant
relationship with our modern notion of optimism,
which everyone now considers to be a positive
attitude.
• Leibniz, who believed the world was created by a
perfect God, has to justify the presence of evil by
saying that evil is necessary and is rather like the
shadows in a painting which serve to highlight the
principal figures and objects in the painting. Since the
world is created by God it is necessarily not just
good, but the best of all possible worlds. (optimum –
the Latin word from which optimism is derived –
means "best")
• Voltaire, originally an admirer of Leibniz, soon
realized that such a position justifies the presence of
evil and provides no incentive to improve the lot of
those who suffer evil and injustice in this life (Walsh).
29. Candide and Pangloss
• Voltaire wrote Candide in
anguish as a reply to
Rousseau.
• In the philosophical tale,
Candide is the student of
Pangloss, whose
Leibnizian philosophy
appears futile, irrelevant,
and absurd in the midst of
human pain and suffering
(Kors 447).
Pangloss
30. •Philosophical optimism denies the human
reality of irredeemable pain, injustice, and
cruelty.
•Candide voyages through a world of war,
arrogance, abuses of power, religious
persecutions and disease.
•Voltaire argues that evil is real, and we
cannot understand God’s providence.
•In Candide, the only way to avoid despair
is to labor to satisfy human needs. We
must pay attention to the real sources of
well-being and the causes of human
suffering (Kors 6, 452).
31. • Candide’s conclusion is: “Let us cultivate our
garden.” The only antidote to pain and despair
is to work in the earthly garden, to stave off
what suffering and vice we can.
• Candide marked a crucial turn from
theological or metaphysical concerns to practial
attention to the human condition, from abstract
philosophy to humanistic activism (Kors 20).
32. Voltaire’s Contribution
• This “shift from theological or
metaphysical concerns to the
human condition” is one of
Voltaire’s main contributions to
the Enlightenment.
• As a result of Voltaire’s assault
of philosophical optimism, it
became legitimate for
intellectuals to refute formal
thought by appeal to human
experience.
• Theology was displaced from the
center of intellectual activity, a
movement that encouraged both
investigation into the causes of
human misery and reform of the
conditions that perpetuated
suffering and injustice (Kors
447).
33. Sources
Birkenstock, Jane M. “A Love Story—Voltaire and Emilie,”
Chateau de Cirey-Residence of Voltaire (2009). Web. 14
June 2010.
Kors, Alan Charles. “The Assault Upon Philosophical
Optimism: Voltaire,” The Birth of the Modern Mind: An
Intellectual History of the 17th and 18th Centuries.
Course 447. The Teaching Company, n.d. CD.
Kors, Alan Charles, Voltaire and the Triumph of the
Enlightenment, Course 452. The Teaching Company,
n.d. CD.
Walsh, Thomas Readings on Candide. Literary Companion
to World Literature. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press,
2001.