Candide Philosophical Optimism

A detailed Summary of Candide Philosophical Optimism

Life, death, and existence; every sentient beings at one time or another have perused each concepts in regards to their own lives, questioning the very philosophy that they had so easily accepted. In the novel Candide by Voltaire, Candide the naive protagonist of the story who, though pummeled and slapped in every direction by fate, clings desperately to the belief that he lives in the best of all possible worlds. Wouldn't it be great to believe that all were for the best and everything that happens happened for a reason? The poor are poor because they are and the rich are rich because they just happened to be rich. This way the poor are content with their lives and the rich are secure in knowing that the poor are kept in their place. According to this absurd notion of equity all disaster and human suffering is part of a benevolent cosmic plan. Instead of leading people away from such indoctrinations many prominent institutions encouraged this philosophical optimism and went even further to abuse its authority. Irritated by the people blind conviction and the authority's exploitations, Voltaire uses humorous devices to satire evils he finds in philosophical optimism, religion, and nobility, and in d

The absurdity and sheer stupidity of philosophical optimism are humorously presented through the use of irony, contradiction, and understatement. The name Candide is synonymous with optimism. Pure and unbelievably naive, Candide follows the philosophy taught him by Pangloss that this is the best of all possible worlds. Candide is used by Voltaire as a tool to show the absolute ludricracy of complete optimism. According to Pangloss, Candide's esteemed teacher of "metaphysico - theologo - cosmolo - nigology", the universe is linked in a complex chain of cause and effect and that this linking had been done by a divine creator as he created the harmonious universe. Since he was benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient, he logically would create the "best of all possible worlds." Hence, everything that happens in the universe is part of this greater plan, and thus must be for the best. Humans cannot appreciate how the evils encountered in every day life contribute to the best of universes and universal harmony, but they do, nonetheless. This notion of optimism was attractive to many because it answered a profound philosophical question that mankind had been grappling with since the beginning of faith: if God is omnipotent and benevolent, then why is there so much evil in the world? Optimism provides an easy way out of this philosophical dilemma: God has made everything for the best, and even though one might experience personal misfortune, God (via this misfortune) is still helping the greater good. As a result, people convicted themselves to believe that bl

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Approximate Word count = 1053
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous