candide
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The Folly of Optimism
The French writer and philosopher Voltaire is considered one of the central figures of the Age of Enlightenment of the 1700s, a period which emphasized the power of human reason, science, and respect for humanity. The novel, Candide, is considered Voltaire's signature work, and it is here that he levels his sharpest criticism against nobility, philosophy, the church, and cruelty.
First, Voltaire criticizes the idea of optimism. In the novel of Candide, Pangloss and his student Candide maintain, the idea of optimism, that "everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." They believe that the existence of any evil in the world would have to be a sign that God is either not entirely good or not all-powerful, and the idea of an imperfect God is nonsensical. But Voltaire does not accept that a perfect God has to exist, he mock the idea that the world must be completely good, and he heaps merciless satire on this idea throughout the novel.
Second, Pangloss's optimism that is based in abstract philosophical argument rather than real-world evidence. Voltaire condemns the uselessness of philosophical speculation and people believe their faith blindly. Pangloss's argument about spectacles and breeches demonstrates a ridiculous inability to properly distinguish between cause and effect. Spectacles fit noses not because God created noses to fit spectacles, as Pangloss claims, but the other way around...