ipl-logo

Pascal And Voltaire Analysis

1774 Words8 Pages

Pascal and Voltaire throughout their writings have pessimistic views of reality, but their views of the human condition contrast in various ways. Voltaire uses the protagonist of his story to represent hope and because of this character 's hope he is able to survive the struggles of life. He also, has a character believe that life will get better later even after her unfavorable circumstances. Lastly, Voltaire expresses that when a person gets what they have been hoping for they are not fully happy just simply content. In contrast, Pascal believes that humans choose to follow their heart because people believe their heart is good. In addition, Pascal believes that the human condition is the want to figure out the unknown. This leads Pascal …show more content…

Humans choose to follow their hearts because they believe their heart is good. Pascal states, "How hollow and full of ribaldry is the heart of man!" (Pascal, "Thoughts", 50). Pascal expresses that humans are corrupted by their wants and passions and they follow their heart in hope to better their human condition. Pascal explains that his ideal would be to free humans of their passions and have humankind ponder and hope to find answers to the uncertainty in life. The text says, "I would then lead man to the desire of finding truth; to be free from passions, and ready to follow it where he might find it," (55). Through the text Pascal stresses the necessity to have hope, but the ideal is to hope to find answers to the unknown in this life. Pascal 's view is different than compared to Voltaire, while both show the importance of hope in this life; Voltaire expresses hope as the driving force in one 's life to survive and keep going while Pascal expresses the need of hope allows humankind to discover the unknown in the …show more content…

Pascal describes all the ideals that humans believe will make their lives happier and better, but he believes the only happiness will come later in the afterlife and by wanting in this life they will be unhappy. Pascal says, "..they cannot be happy unless their health, their honor, their fortune, and that of their friends be in good condition, and that a single thing wanting will make them unhappy," (50). Pascal explains that human 's passions are detrimental to their reality and the passions they have will make them unhappy when they are unable to obtain them. Pascal titles one section of his text "The Necessity of Hope", he explains that humans need to hope to find truth in their life as the human condition is set in a stage of uncertainty. Pascal says, "We cannot but desire the truth and happiness, and are incapable of certainty or happiness" (57). He explains that humankind is unable to be certain or even obtain happiness. The human condition for Pascal to be uncertain in one 's life and from his thoughts one can infer that he leans more toward that once a person gets what he desires he will be unhappy with the outcome. Pascal differs from Voltaire in the view that once one gets what he has been hoping for he is not

Show More
Related
1082 Words | 5 Pages

Ambition is defined as the strong desire to achieve a specific goal and is often driven by determination. It can guide people to achieve goals and aspirations, and some are willingly to do anything in order to satisfy their ambitious personalities. The French military and political Napoleon Bonaparte successfully defined what ambition truly is by stating, “Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”

Read More
1602 Words | 7 Pages

Also, Pascal believes that the human condition is the aspiration to figure out the unknown. The notion of the uncertain leads Pascal to talk a lot about the afterlife. He states humans live a life that encourages the hope that their afterlife will be superior. Pascal believes that the human

Read More
1490 Words | 6 Pages

Every actions no matter how good or how bad these characters have made have to be followed by a reaction or consequence. These two stories, Voltaire and Gulliver’s Travels, have multiple prime examples of how life is the same thing as an illustration of optimism versus pessimism. In the Candide by Voltaire there are two well-known and popular characters that are reflected upon from the beginning to the end of the story.

Read More
650 Words | 3 Pages

Hope can help people through the darkest of times, and give them a goal for which to

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

Although, occasionally hope can raise the expectation of a person too much. One would be disappointed in the end, if

Read More
1198 Words | 5 Pages

Since he does feel happiness from the chase for knowledge, he has the right to be inspired by this action. He also mentions that the Golden One, a woman he meets and falls in love with, brings him joy, which he wouldn’t be able to say if it wasn’t for his curiosity and desire to know her that soars to levels unreachable. Therefore, his innovation and meeting of the Golden One refer back to his beginning of reaching for knowledge. The nature of a human also justifies the way they’re motivated.

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

Yes, I agree that when you lose hope you also lose the desire and become consumed with doubt and will lose a lot of dreams and beliefs. In the novel The Chrysalids, loss of one 's hope causes the loss of beliefs, leads to sadness and depression, losses the fight you 're striving for before it even begins. First, you can’t stop fighting for your beliefs will prevent the loss of hope. Second, you can’t let the loss of hope lead you to sadness and depression and even death. Third, you can’t give up on your beliefs and lose hope because the odds aren’t in your favour.

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

We all have our ambitions in life. Whether it's to finish school, get a job you always wanted, or to win an award. We always try hard to achieve these goals, but there's a certain point where our ambitions will start having consequences. This is shown in the play “Othello” and the book “Frankenstein”. We are shown the consequences of unchecked ambition and going forward blindly.

Read More
685 Words | 3 Pages

The struggle to be known is an important factor in the question of what makes humans human. If a single person could change the world, the fate of the person and their world would become predictable. Granger, from Fahrenheit 451, demonstrates that humans in their egotistical ways tend to think that they can change the world if they try hard enough, but it simply isn’t realistic. He is told to “pound” this idea into his mind in order to keep his head below the

Read More
1110 Words | 5 Pages

People want to be happy, isn’t that right? Well, aren’t they?’” (Bradbury 56). All people want in life is to be happy. They want to be untroubled and not have to stress about what’s going on in the real world.

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

Heart vs. Mind Synthesis Essay Heart vs. mind is one of the most common yet complex internal conflicts of man. Shakespeare’s being one of the most well-renowned authors and playwriters of all time, his literature would mainly consist of the theme heart vs. mind. With this theme of heart vs. mind being internal, it would start to conflict the character in difficult times. There’s a saying that goes, “the heart wants what the heart wants” and this includes going against what’s good for you or your mind.

Read More
1542 Words | 7 Pages

Voltaire 's Candide: "All is not for the best." Introduction: Voltaire (real name Francois-Marie Arouet), was born in 1694 to a middle class Parisian family. He first studied law to fulfil his father 's wish, but later became a well-known writer and philosopher. He lived most of his life in exile, because of his satirical tales that attack the French State, the Catholic Church, the aristocracy, and the military. For instance, the Grand Inquisitor; the Bulgarian Captain; and the arrogant Young Baron all represent the absurdity of that time.

Read More
1048 Words | 5 Pages

Therefore, happiness must be achieved through divine powers that allow us to become eternally fulfilled in life after death. However, pleasure can be of this world because it brings us moments of fulfillments instantly and then dies away quickly because pleasure is flawed because it is of this world and requires no divine power or god to obtain this short-lived image of fulfillment. Leonard Katz, states that pleasure is always directed to satisfy the needs of one 's self and as long as one 's own needs are met pleasure is achieved2. However, happiness, mentioned by Dan Haybron, requires one to seek the needs of others rather than their own needs in order to be

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

Scanning through his past several years, he returns to his mother’s death and analyzes her choice to seek a lover at the end of her life. While before he thought it was strange and even somewhat aggravating, he realizes now, being so close to death, that people will enter a desperate search for meaning when their time left is fleeting. But at the same time, he reasons potentially as a coping mechanism, there is no difference whether he dies by execution later that day or in 40 years because he will be dying all the same. Together, these two realizations, though somewhat contradictory, create his bridge to Existentialism. By establishing these two points, he can allow himself to, “open up to the gentle indifference of the world - finding it so much like himself”(122), and apply whatever meaning he wants to life in order to make it as rich and enjoyable as desired, rather than drifting along as a pitiful being waiting for some greater power to guide him along.

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

So everything that we do, every action and decision that we make is in the assumption that there is something “good” to come of it because that is what we are all working and living for. The purpose and the function of our lives is more that just survival in a physical sense but of having a rational soul which means using our reason excellently. The only way for us to achieve true happiness is for us to develop our

Read More

More about Pascal And Voltaire Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document