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Candide - A Contrast To Optimism - School Essays

Candide - A Contrast To Optimism

Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire was the French author of the
novella Candide, also known as "Optimism"(Durant and Durant 724). In
Candide, Voltaire sought to point out the fallacy of Gottfried William
von Leibniz's theory of optimism and the hardships brought on by the

resulting inaction toward the evils of the world. Voltaire's use of

satire, and its techniques of exaggeration and contrast highlight the

evil and brutality of war and the world in general when men are meekly

accepting of their fate. Leibniz, a German philosopher and

mathematician of Voltaire's time, developed the idea that the world

they were living in at that time was "the best of all possible

...

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were based on the idea that everything in the world

was determined by fate, theorized that God, having the ability to pick

from an infinite number of worlds, chose this world, "the best of all

possible worlds." Although Voltaire chose that simple quality of

Leibniz's philosophy to satirize, Leibniz meant a little more than

just that. Even though his philosophy stated that God chose "the best

of all possible worlds," he also meant that God, being the perfection

he is, chose the best world available to him, unfortunately it was a

world containing evil. It seems as though Voltaire wanted to ridicule

Leibniz's philosophy so much that he chose to satirize only the

literal meaning and fatal acceptance of evil of Leibniz's philosophy.

To get his point across in Candide, Voltaire created the

character Dr. Pangloss, an unconditional follower of Leibniz's

philosophy. Voltaire shows this early in the novella by stating, "He

proved admirably ...

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Candide - A Contrast To Optimism. (2005, March 8). Retrieved January 11, 2026, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Candide-A-Contrast-To-Optimism/23412

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/8/2005 11:23:03 PM
Category: English
Type: Free Paper
Words: 1213
Pages: 5

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