Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet –1694-1778

French philosopher. Born in Paris. Educated at Louis-le-Grand. A prominent writer and social critic, and considered by his contempories as the greatest poet and dramatist of the century he is now better know for his essays and sharp wit. He was associated with the 18th century Philosophers and contributed to the encyclopedia. His precociousness and upbringing among a group of livertins, or free thinkers, and his love for aristocratic circles were to mark his life, just as his classical education by the Jesuits formed his taste. He was imprisoned twice in the Bastille, once for writing satirical verses and another when he quarreled with a nobleman. After which he spent three years in England where he absorbed the lessons of British liberties, deism, and literature. Still unwelcome in Paris he went to live in Lorraine and then in Geneva in semi-exile. He lived with the intellectual and amorous Madame du Chatelet. After her death in childbirth Voltaire became the honored guest of Frederick the Great, but acrimony led to their abrupt separation in 1753. After two years of wandering he settled at Les Delices, a chateau on the edge of Lake Geneva.. Later for safety he moved to Ferney, just inside the French border, which remained his home until his return to Paris in February 1778, where he was warmly greeted by the people in an astonishing series of triumphs. Those who knew him best said of him that work was necessary for his very existence. It was his practice to work 18 to 20 hours per day, writing often in bed, taking no regular hours for food or sleep. In one of the rare departures from his usual urbanity Voltaire attacked the crudities of Shakespearian tragedy defending, against its formlessness, the purity of French neo-Classicism.


FIVE AREAS of HIS THOUGHT

[1.] Born to an age in which the spread of knowledge was highly cherished by the educated both for itself, and for its results, Voltaire lived an urbane, skeptical, humanitarian and literary existence characterized by passionate dedication both to his work, and to the cause of humanity, as he understood it. He fought the battle against intolerance of every variety, having allegedly coined the famous credo of the latitudinarian: “I don’t believe a word you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” (Allegedly is the key word here. According to a footnote in Bartlett’s Quotations (11 edition 1938) the quotation is not found verbatim in Voltaire’s works and is likely a 20th century restatement of when Voltaire wrote in his Essay on Tolerance: “Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too.”)
Too skeptical to adhere to any systematic philosophy, or to provide one, his ideas sometimes shifting, he believed the most satisfactory approach to the world to result from a combination of skepticism concerning ultimate questions, and moral activity on behalf of humanity.


[2.] Ethics rests on self-love and justice. Self-love, or self –preservation, as man’s exclusive motive is bad. But there is in man a natural sense of justice deriving from a love of order which men naturally possess. It defines virtue and has to do with the good of others. History is a battle between these two forces, qualified by the influence of climate, government, and religion. History moves by means of the embodiment of ideas. Ideas, hence, change the world. And, generally progress does occur, even though it does not occur inevitably.

[3.] Evidences of design convinced Voltaire that a Supreme Being does exist as creator and governor of the natural and moral worlds. He found convincing both the argument by analogy which proceeds from the order of a watch to the order of nature and the ‘first cause’ argument which rest on the denial of an infinite series of causes. But he found it impossible for man to know God’s nature, or whether He is just, unjust, cruel, or kind. Voltaire’s position was, in general, deistic; and God assumes his deistic role as cause of a universe controlled by law, and not requiring intervention.

[4.] With respect to human nature, the position consistent with such a universe, and a position held by Voltaire, is that freedom in the sense of willing without a cause is a contradiction in terms. Our will is determined by the laws of the universe, and causes which have played upon the individual; but the individual is free so long as he can carry out his wishes. Men have the “power of doing what they choose.” Men do not have the power of “election without reason, without any other motive than that of free will.”

[5.] Concerning man’s fate it is just not possible to know if his soul is immortal or mortal. It is possible to know that there are evils in the world of sufficient magnitude that they must affect our understanding of our position in the world. The Lisbon earthquake of 1775 was one such evil, and led Voltaire to write Candide, in parody of Leibniz’ claim that ours is “the best of all possible worlds.” On the contrary, it seemed to Voltaire that either man is born guilty and God is punishing him, or God is indifferent to his creatures. And he tended to find the latter the more plausible explanation.

Principal writings:
Philosophical Letters 1734
Elements of Newton’s Philosophy 1738
Essay on the Customs and Spirit of the Nations 1756
Candide 1759
Treatise on Toleration 1763
Philosophical Dictionary 1764
The Philosophy of History 1766

His collected works fill about 80 volumes which includes his prolific correspondence which not only reflect his personality but describes the times in which he lived.


Important dates in Voltaire’s life

1694 November 21, born in Paris to a wealthy family. As a child he is influenced by his mother's friends in the belles-letters and deism. Shows early ability to write verse.

1704 Sent to the College Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit institution, where, in addition to a sound classical education, he was exposed to stage-plays in both Latin and French which may account for the interest he had in the stage throughout his life.

1711 He returns home and, desiring to devote himself to literature, struggles against his father's wish that he studies law. He gives in briefly but soon abandons study of law altogether.

1713 After falling in with a loose crowd, his father sends him to Holland. Upon his return to Paris he works briefly in a lawyer's office.

1714 His satirical poems get him in trouble and his father sends him away once more, this time to the marquis de Saint-Ange who lives in the country.

1715 Returns to Paris and is introduced to better relationships including the famous "court of Sceaux" a social circle headed by the duchesse du Maine.

1716 In May, having lampooned the regent Orleans, he is exiled to Tulle, then Sully.

1717 Returns to Paris but is accused of writing two libelous poems, which he probably did not write, and sentenced to the Bastille for eleven months where he begins Henriade.

1722 Began his adventures as a "secret diplomat" to Dubois.

1723 Publishes Henriade.

1726 Sent to the Bastille once more as a result of a quarrel with the chevalier de Rohan. Released two weeks later and exiled to England where, for the next three years, he learns English and watches many Shakespearean productions.

1729 Gains full privelege to return to Paris.

1732 Produces Zaire, one of his two best plays.

1733 Publishes Letters on the English Nation which gets him in trouble again as its criticism of the English was only a guise for the criticism of both the church and state of France. He flees to Lorraine where he spends the next fifteen years at the chateau of Cirey with his mistress Emile de Breteuil, marquise du Chatelet.

1735 Once more given liberty to return to Paris but he remained at Cirey only occasionally returning to Paris.

1745 Appointed Royal Historiographer of France.

1746 Elected to the French Academy.

1748 Publishes Zadig, a philosophical tale.

1751 Goes to Berlin to serve as philosopher-poet to Frederick the Great. Stays three years.

1752 Publishes The Age of Louis XIV and Micromegas.

1753 Leaves Berlin after a quarrel with Frederick over rights.

1754 Not being allowed into France, he lives in various towns on the border and finally moves to a Geneva chalet which he calls Les Delices. While in Geneva meets Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

1759 Publishes Candide, a satiric treatment of Leibniz' solution to the problem of evil in the Theodicy. Moves to Ferney, near Geneva but on French soil, where many celebrated European figures visits him. Already considered the greatest literary genius in France, he also devotes his literary efforts to social reform earning him the title of Europe's greatest champion of humanity.

1763 Publishes Treatise on Tolerance.

1764 Publishes Dictionnaire philosophique.

1778 Returns to Paris a hero. May 30, dies in his sleep.


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