Voltaire’s Candide (1758)

  

                Chapter 1:             Candide’s Expulsion from Westphalia (The Fall of Man)

 

                (What is Voltaire’s take on the Church’s explanation for the existence of evil in man?)

 

                Voltaire’s intricate and involved satire on the moral beliefs of the Enlightenment:

 

What is Voltaire’s true philosophical stance?

                How does he account for the existence of evil in the world, both human evil

and ‘natural evil’?

What is his judgment of the philosophical belief in optimistic determinism?

                What is his vision of the natural state of man? Good or Evil?

What is his understanding of the relationship between cause and effect? Is human behavior determined? If so, then we are not morally responsible for our choices?

What happens when social thinkers try to engineer a perfect human?

 

                The Expulsion from Eden: (Voltaire’s vision of human nature)

 

1.        Voltaire’s satirizes our conception of Eden: aristocratic breeding, material possession, snobbery and pretentiousness: the mighty Baron Thunder-ten Tronck, Lord of Westphalia owns a castle that has a window and a door and a tapestry; his wife weighs 350 pounds; therefore he is a superior creature to all other mortals. (What logic is Voltaire satirizing?)

2.        Voltaitre satirizes the philosophe’s conception of  Eden: Pangloss’ version of Leibniz/Newton’s optimistic determinism:

-          there cannot be an effect without a cause

-          every cause is for the best in ‘this the best of all possible worlds’.

-          Voltaire lampoons this way of regarding the universe by demonstrating the faulty logic behind the argument for God’s existence due to design: ‘everything is made to serve an end , and everything necessarily serves the best end’: noses were made to support spectacles, hence we have spectacles; legs were made to be breeched, stones were made to build castles…

-          What logical mistake does Voltaire suggest optimistic determinists are making?

3.        Voltaire's Redefinition of Original Sin:

-          Dr. Pangloss gives the Baroness’ maid a lesson in experimental physics: the doctor’s sufficient reason (the force of reason between cause and effect). Therefore, any action can be rationalized and justified. What is Voltaire satirizing by referring to sex as a purely physical, purely good act?   The notion that terms like lust and force have no moral value.

-        Even though Voltaire ridicules Pangloss's willingness to justify anything he does, what are we to make of Candide and Cunegonde's sin?  When Cunegonde tries to perform the same "experiment" with Candide, he is ejected from paradise:

 

Voltaire is revealing a logical flaw in Christian theology: how can we hold Candide responsible for engaging in an act that he could neither understand nor avoid? Similarly, how can we hold Adam responsible for an act that he could neither understand nor avoid? Without knowledge of good and evil can we be held accountable? Voltaire commenced the debate which we are still arguing today: when has an adolescent achieved enough experience to be held responsible for his actions? We don’t prosecute animals, children or the insane.

 

 

Voltaire’s point?

 

Human nature is bestial, and to dream of overcoming instinct is arrogant folly. Powerful instincts, far more powerful than reason, drive our actions. In most cases we use reason merely to justify these bestial actions. Instinct is neither good nor bad. It is. There is no moral order to the universe, and humans have neither the power nor the intelligence to impose their morality on the universe. Natural catastrophe has no relation to a moral order.  It is an aspect of the simple nature of reality itself, a reality that we cannot hope to fathom.  Some aspects of life simply are.

 

However, morality can apply to some aspects of our relations with each other. By humbly and honestly using reason to evaluate our actions, we can identify the most egregious forms of human oppression for what they are: barbarism  We can refuse to bow down before ideologies that justify the cruelty of the aristocracy , the perverse ambitions of kings, and the oppression of the organized church. Holding to reason is our only hope to grasp the nature of the propaganda that justifies force, cruelty, and injustice. Voltaire’s point is essentially political. Evil exists; for the most part, humans create it, and there isn’t much that we can do about it. We are just too stupid. However, goodness also exists; humans possess free will, and we can use our reason to improve our lives. But utopia? Forget it!

 

In Candide, Voltaire will lampoon the philosophes’ naïve belief in the fundamental goodness of not only man but the design of the universe itself. He will also lampoon their mechanistic and determined vision of human behavior, suggesting that free will and charitable acts are not just possible but vital to the health of society. At the same time he will lampoon the ancien regime’s pomposity and expose the corruption of absolute monarchy, the arrogance and cruelty of the aristocracy, and the superstition and violence of the church. Voltaire will agitate for reform of the government, for the natural rights of all men, for the abolishment of the class system, and the education of the people.

 

 

Report #2

 

                Chapter 2:              The Recruiting Officer

                Chapter 3:              The Seven Years War

 

                (How does Voltaire mock the notion that our education and experience can condition us to avoid evil?)

                (What Is Voltaire’s vision of the heroic adventure of warfare?)

                (What do Anabaptists like Jaques believe? Why does he save Candide?)

 

 

 

 

Report #3

 

                Chapter 4:              Pangloss with the Pox and Jaques the Anabaptist

                Chapter 5:              The Death of Jaques and The Lisbon Earthquake

 

(What is Voltaire’s implied point in Pangloss’s absurd justification of the horror of syphilis?)

                (What happens to poor Jaques? What is Voltaire’s point?)

                (What moral reason can explain the terrible destruction of this natural catastrophe?)

                (Why does Voltaire include the perverse frenzy of the looters who take advantage of the destruction?)

 

Report #4

               

                Chapter 6:              The Inquisition’s Auto-da fe

                Chapter 7:              Reunion with Cunegonde

 

                (How did the Catholic Church explain the Lisbon Earthquake?)

                (How does Voltaire justify the necessity of suffering?)

                (Through what agency is Candide saved once again?)

                (What do you make of Voltaire’s choice to make Pangloss, Candide and Cunegonde indestructible?)

 

 

Report #5

 

                Chapter 8:              Cunegonde’s Story:            Shared by the Inquisitor and the Jew

                Chapter 9:              Candide Commits Murder (Twice!)

                Chapter 10:            Bound for the New World

 

                (What is Pangloss’ justification for brutality?)

                (To what extent has Reason enabled the Inquisitor and the Jew to overcome their differences?)

                (Why does Candide feel no remorse for his murders?)

                (How does Candide believe that the New World will be different from the Old?)

 

 

 

Report #6

 

                Chapter 11:            The Old Woman’s Adventures:        The Wheel of Fortune

                Chapter 12:            The Old Woman’s Adventures:        The Plague, Slavery, Cannibalism, Suicide

 

                (To what indignities was the young princess subjected? What is Voltaire’s point about fortune?)

                (What is Voltaire’s explanation for these natural and human evils?)

 

 

 

 

Report #7

 

                Chapter 13:            The New World: Buenos Aires

                Chapter 14:            The Jesuit Utopia

                Chapter 15:            Candide Kills his Brother-In-Law

                Chapter 16:            The Biglugs: Man in the State of Nature

 

                (Describe the New World paradise that has been created in South America. How different is it from Europe?)

                (Why is Candide rejected by his aristocratic brother-in-law? Why does Candide kill him?)

                (What is Voltaire’s vision of man in the state of nature, the Biglugs?)

 

 

 

 

Report #8

 

                Chapter 17:            Eldorado

                Chapter 18:            The Government of Eldorado

 

                (After showing the reality of society in the new World, Voltaire presents his vision of Utopia.)

                (How do Candide and Cacambo find Utopia?)

                (Describe the features of this ideal social arrangement: What religion? What economy? What government?)

                (Why does Candide insist on leaving Eldorado? What do you make of this choice?)

 

 

 

 

Report #9

 

                Chapter 19:            Surinam

                Chapter 20:            Martin the Manichean

                Chapter 21:            More of Martin’s Philosophy

 

                (What conditions exist on the sugar plantation in the New World?)

                (How has Candide redefined optimism?)

                (How is Candide cheated of his fortune?)

                (What do Manicheans believe? Is Martin a strict Manichean?)

                (To what extent does Voltaire believe in the freedom of the will?)

 

 

 

 

 

Report #10

 

                Chapter 22:            France

                Chapter 23:            England

 

                (Describe Voltaire’s vision of French society: what happens to Candide and Martin?)

                (How does he dispense with England?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Report #11

 

                Chapter 24:            Venice and The Possibility of Human Happiness

                Chapter 25:            Lord Pococurante

                Chapter 26:            Dinner for the De-throned

 

                (What is the outcome of Martin and Candide’s bet on the possibility of human happiness?)

                (How happy is Lord Pococurante, the man who has never known a moment’s grief?)

(After Candide has had dinner with the ex-kings, what does he think about the possible satisfactions of owning absolute political power?)

 

 

 

 

 

Report #12

 

                Chapter 27:            Constantinople Bound: the Galleys of the Turks

                Chapter 28:            The Adventures of Pangloss and the Baron

                Chapter 29:            Reunion with Cunegonde and the Old Woman

 

                (Think of Constantinople as the location of Voltaire’s final farm.)

(How did all our heroes wind up in this part of the world? Is Voltaire cynically creating an impossible coincidence, or is he suggesting the possibility of a measure of human happiness?)

                (What has happened to Cunegonde? Does Candide still love her?)

                (How does Pangloss re-define his belief in the principle of pre-established harmony?)

 

 

 

 

Report #13

 

                Chapter 30:            The Conclusion

 

                (Do our heroes live happily ever after?)

(What does the dervish tell Pangloss?)

                (Describe the philosophies of Pangloss, Martin, and Candide at the end of the story.)

                (What is Voltaire’s moral?)