What are the main ideas of Voltaire's Candide?

Answer 1

It is unclear that Voltaire knew what his main ideas were since he contradicted himself quite often. Voltaire is the pen name for Francois-Marie Arouet who was a French Enlightenment essayist, poet, writer and philosopher known as much for his wit as his defense of freedom, in particular his views on freedom of religion and free trade.

Voltaire is often mistakenly viewed as an atheist which probably stems from his assertion that: "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him." But to extrapolate from that a sense of Atheism is to ignored the context in which he said it. Voltaire was not criticizing God but rather established religion and Voltaire was a Deist who actually erected a chapel on his estate. Voltaire did not believe that an adherence to any particular religious dogma was required in order to believe in God. Voltaire wrote: "What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason." His contradictory nature was, however, is evidenced by his advocacy of Deism for the elite but recommending Christianity for tailors and chamber maids.

Even though Voltaire was a man who passionately believed in clarity an reason it is unclear what reasons he had for believing that man's nature is unchangeable but then advocating the arts and humanities as ways for man to evolve. He clearly believed in freedom but was rather skeptical of self governance and was horrified at the idea of revolution..

Answer 2

The main ideas of Voltaire's "Candide" include satire, criticism of optimism, exploration of philosophical and religious themes, and the questioning of societal norms such as wealth and power. The story follows the adventures of the optimistic but naive Candide as he encounters various hardships and disillusionments, ultimately leading him to embrace a more practical and realistic outlook on life.

Answer 3

Candide's Voltaire was primarily an attack on the popular use of Optimism in Voltaire's day. The main ideal of Optimism, extensively discussed by Gottfried Leibniz, was that everything in the world was for the best and that suffering was just so that when one person suffers it saves others from suffering in the future. Voltaire depicts this idea with his character Pangloss, who believes in Optimism to an absurd degree. Pangloss does not act to help people, saying how their suffering is critical to the best of all possible worlds. He links getting syphilis to being a critical part of being able to eat chocolate.

Another character Martin portrays the alternate belief that everything in the world is bad. He often is right. However, one act of nobility proves that his philosophy is not an absolute.

Perhaps the greatest point in Candide though, is Voltaire's cry for tolerance and hard work. The characters in the story are only happy when they finally stop bickering over differing beliefs and work to support themselves instead.

Answer 4

It is unclear that Voltaire knew what his main ideas were since he contradicted himself quite often.

Answer 5

Voltaire's novel Candide is a brilliant satire of the religious philosophy of optimism.