Enlightenment Philosophers:

The Candide Connection

Joanna Morelli & Molly Easton

Characteristics of Enlightenment Philosophies

• Rationalism reason is authority

• Cosmology a new perspective on man’s place and the Earth’s place in the universe

• Secularism applying scientific methods to religious and philosophical matters

• Scientific Method mathematical analysis and inductive reasoning

Characteristics of Enlightenment Philosophies Cont.

• Utilitarinism the greatest good for the most people

• Tolerance accepting others’ beliefs

• Optimism and Confidence man is good and progressing

• Freedom liberty in thought, expression, and man

Characteristics of Enlightenment Philosophies Cont.

• Education of the masses the right of all to be educated

• Legal reforms just laws & punishment

• Constitutionalism written documents listing citizens and their rights

• Cosmopolitanism single community of people based on shared morality

Thomas Hobbes• Wrote The Elements of Law, Natural and Political &The

Questions Concerning Liberty, Necessity, and Chance• Beliefs:

– Natural state– Individual rights– All men are equal– Society/state difference– All legitimate political power must be "representative"– Liberal interpretation of law leaves people free to do

whatever they wish– People act solely based on self-interest

Hobbes Cont.• Humans should save their own skin in difficult

situations.– Candide kills Cunégonde’s brother– Most of the characters in Candide act with their

own self-interest in mind• Living in the natural state

– The Biglugs and the Oreillons

John Locke• Wrote An Essay Concerning Human

Understanding• Beliefs:

– Wants humans to search for the truth with reason– God created man; we are his property– Need life, liberty, health, and property– State of nature: love, awareness, and respect

• War violates

– Always victim & aggressor in war– Religious toleration

Locke Cont.• Is this the best of all possible worlds?

– Candide listens to Pangloss– Listens to Martin & questions philosophy

• Everything happens for a reason– Even horrible things (would never have found

Pangloss if he hadn’t gone through the Bulgars & been punished by the orator from Ch.3)

• Religious toleration in Eldorado• Auto-da-fée

Jean Jacques Rousseau• Wrote his Discourse on the Sciences and Arts• Helped with Diderot’s Encyclopedié• Beliefs:

– State of nature is brutish, without law or morality– Opposed private property– Emphasized learning by experience

Rousseau Cont.• Many brutish situations occur in Candide

• Candide’s experiences lead him to finally dismiss his mentor’s philosophy

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz• Wrote Meditations on Knowledge, Truth, and Ideas &

Discourse on Metaphysics

• Beliefs:– “God acts for the best” (The Principle of the Best)– “There is no cause without an effect” (The Principle of Sufficient

Reason)– “Nothing takes place suddenly…nature never makes leaps” (The

Principle of Continuity)– If two things share all characteristics, they are identical and are

the same (The Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles)

"Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 22 Dec. 2007. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz/>.

Leibniz Cont.• The Principle of the Best

– Pangloss’s “All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds”

• The Principle of Sufficient Reason– Pangloss’s ideals– ex: Cunégonde observes Pangloss and Paquette kissing, which causes her

to flirt with Candide cause and effect

• The Principle of Continuity– Opposite of this is portrayed in Candide– All the random events that occur in Candide

• The earthquake, Pangloss suddenly being found alive

Denis Diderot• Translated Ephraim Chambers’ The Universal Dictionary of

Arts and Sciences into French with his Encyclopedié

• Beliefs:– Did not believe in an emphasis of mathematics in philosophies– Looked down upon and condemned the Church and Christianity

(Separation of Church & State)– Warned against blind optimism

Diderot Cont.• Optimism is shown as foolish in Candide

– Candide is optimistic about everything, no matter what

• The Church is often portrayed as the enemy in Candide:– The corrupt abbée– The monk (with Paquette)– The Grand Inquisitor– The Pope

• Old woman is the child of

Voltaire• Helped with Diderot’s Encyclopedié

• Wrote Letters Concerning the English Nation & Treatise on Tolerance

• Beliefs:– freedom of religion– freedom of trade– separation of church and state– considered himself a deist– toleration of other ethnicities– distrusted democracy, which he saw as spreading the idiocy of the masses

Martin• Whereas Pangloss subscribes to a philosophy of extreme

optimism, Martin is an extreme pessimist.

• Martin goes against everything Candide learned from Pangloss, even the statement that “there is some good in the world.”

• Martin has learned more from experience than Candide, who blindly trusts Pangloss for the better part of the book.

• Martin’s pessimistic instincts are not always correct.

Martin Cont.• Martin has a negative outlook on life, so he contrasts with

Leibniz’s philosophy (everything is for the best)

• He stands in opposition to the Church, which puts him in line with Diderot

• He agrees with Rousseau, in the belief that all of humanity is brutish

• Martin agrees with Hobbes- everybody acts for his own interests and benefit

Works Cited• Bertram, Christopher. "Jean Jacques Rousseau (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)."

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 27 Sept. 2010. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rousseau/>.

• Brians, Paul. "The Enlightenment." Home Page of Paul Brians. Washington State University, 11 Mar. 1998. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment.html>.

• "Diderot, Denis." Info:Main Page - New World Encyclopedia. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Diderot#Thought_and_works>.

• "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 22 Dec. 2007. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz/>.

• Lloyd, Sharon A., and Susanne Sreehar. "Hobbes's Moral and Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Center, Stanford University, 12 Feb. 2002. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/>.

Works Cited• "Philosophical Connections: Diderot." PhiloSophos: Advice and Resources for Philosophy Students. Web. 04

Dec. 2011. <http://www.philosophos.com/philosophical_connections/profile_070.html>.

• Pojer, Susan M. "The Enlightenment." Powerpoint Palooza. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://www.pptpalooza.net/>.

• Shank, J. B. "Voltaire (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/voltaire/>.

• Sheridan, Patricia. "Locke's Moral Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-moral/>.

• Tuckness, Alex. "Locke's Political Philosophy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford Encylopedia, 9 Nov. 2005. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke-political/>.

• Uzgalis, William. "John Locke (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2 Sept. 2001. Web. 04 Dec. 2011. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/>.