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The Role Of Voltaire In The Enlightenment

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Some of the main philosophers of the Enlightenment Period were Immanuel Kant, Voltaire, and David Hume. Kant played a big role in the devolvement of philosophy for his contribution in science, social behaviors, and religion. Kant expressed the contexts for understanding ethics and values which the western world integrated into their own culture and government. Voltaire was mainly an author, writing anything from plays to novels. However, he had a great interest in science which he acquired from Madame du Chậtelet, his mistress. Voltaire had an immense reputation for his radical views, sexual freedom, and negative views about Christianity. Voltaire was extremely vocal with his opinions which showed in his writings. Voltaire impacted the Western
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Two particular enlightenment thinkers were Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Paine’s main focus in his works was that self-government is possible. He really spoke to the colonists in a way they could understand because he was just like them, meaning he was not well-educated but was able to express his thoughts in a persuasive way that impacted the colonists daily lives. The most important pamphlet he ever wrote was called Common Sense and was read by many people, and was even referenced at the Second Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment while he was writing the Declaration of Independence, along with many other of the Founding Fathers as well.

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During the Enlightenment period, many people around colonial America had their views of where the young American colonies were going and how they were going to get there. Many of these opinionated white men were those in a state of power or wealth. Benjamin Franklin, for example, owned a printing business which allowed for his opinions to be so widespread. Other Enlightenment writers such as Thomas Paine, however, came from a quite poor family, due to his father’s push for education, he eventually became a philosopher and quite well known for his pamphlet advocating for independence from Britain titled, “Common Sense”. Another Enlightenment writer used a different method to advocate for colonial America, his name was Voltaire.

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This person is called Pierre-Jacques Volaire. Voltaire accomplishments were that he wrote up to 70 books about the rights of the people. He called for freedom of speech and believed people had right to liberty. Volatiles family are his brothers,Mom and Dad. His mom died when voltaire was seven years and his family belonged in the middle upper class.

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Voltaire François-Marie Arouet(Voltaire)was born on November 21, 1694. He was a french engliment writer. Voltaire was best known for his attacks to the church and for supporting what is called freedom of expression and the separation of church and state. He is remembered for his couraged to fight for the civil rights. Volataire wrote about a total of 2,000 books and pamphlets and 20,000 letters.

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Voltaire understood that a country that is diversified gains more than a country that is isolated and that does not accept differentiation. As a result, Voltaire 's ideas impacted our society today in the United States because the United States constitution allows freedom of speech. While many people to this day are still not tolerant of the other views that people have, a change can be made by teaching others that tolerance allows a person to grow and ultimately strengthens society. The exposure of other cultures also helped the United States to be a more tolerant country. This ideal society is also possible in other countries that do not have as much freedom legally as well by having leaders of countries that have freedom speak with the leaders of countries that do not have as much freedom, since exposure to foreign cultures increases the possibility of tolerance.

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The novel Candide, written by Voltaire, portrays the adventures and experiences of the main character named Candide. Being a very honest man, a character like Candide can be easily swayed and convinced to do and believe anything. From carelessness to greed, the reader can clearly understand that Voltaire ridicules many decisions and situations that occur in the novel. One of many themes Voltaire mocks in the novel would be how greed can result from wealth. What Voltaire is ultimately conveying to the reader is that money cannot buy happiness.

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Darrius Jackson Professor Origill Western Civilization 11/19/2014 Voltaire's wrote Candide to show his view on how society and class, religion, warfare, and the idea of progress. Voltaire was a deist and he believed in religious equality, he wrote Candide to attack all aspects of its social structure by satirizing religion, society and social order by showing his hypocrisy. Voltaire was a prominent figure during the enlightenment era. Although he was not a typical enlightenment writer at his time because he wrote about issues including social freedom, religious inequality and civil liberty that other philosophers did not at the time. Voltaire's outspoken opinions made him very unpopular and landed him in jail but that did not stop him from

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Voltaire is one of the greatest and most famous authors in French literature. He was widely known as a playwright, poet, novelist, essayist and philosopher in the eighteenth century age of enlightenment in Europe. He was known for his advocacy of freedom of religion and other civil liberties. During the long life of Voltaire, he produced many works such as his famous satirical short novel Candide. It was derived from Voltaire’s interest in philosophy and human nature.

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The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government.

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One key facet of living in the world today is the ability for people to have free will over their own lives. In Voltaire’s story “Candide,” it is clear to observe that although Candide is free to form his own decisions, he allows himself to be strongly determined by his surroundings as well as everyone who he encounters. This story proposes that Candide is trying to find a balance between submitting completely to the speculations and actions of others while also taking control of his life through blind faith. Throughout the story, Candide encounters frequent hardships along his voyage to prosperity. These obstacles include, but are not limited to becoming a bulwark, being beaten and forced to watch his beloved Pangloss having been hanged, leaving such an amazing place as Eldorado, being lied to and tricked out of diamonds by the abb`e, killing Cunegonde’s two lovers, almost being boiled alive for killing the monkey lovers, and being persuaded to be promiscuous on Cunegonde.

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The introduction: In life, there are the cheerful people (optimistic) and there the frown faced ones (pessimistic). Taking one side remains illogic in the course of life, as it is better to strike a balance between these two extremes. Candide is torn between being naïve and a kind of lamb in the herd led by an optimistic Shepard, and his famous saying’ in this best of all possible worlds’. (Voltaire, 1761, p.4). And the shocking discoveries that he makes later on his journey to meet his beloved baroness.

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Enlightenment was a time of embracing logic and reasoning whilst rejecting untested beliefs and superstition. This time period occurred from the year 1694 until 1795. During this time writers used their medium of the written word to express their beliefs based on logic while denouncing old-world ideologies . During Enlightenment human nature was often put under scrutiny as thinkers strived to find what qualities resulted in the best possible human. In this piece of writing, the reader will be able to see the opinions of human nature held by three great thinkers from this time period: Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe.

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He was a French philosopher who wrote the Age of Enlightenment about freedom, and democracy. Much of his writing made the aristocracy and monarchies furious because he was going against them. His ideas influenced people in the American Revolution and even the French Revolution. Thomas Paine was influenced by Voltaire in writing the Common Sense pamphlet. The ideas in his writing influenced the line in the second paragraph “all men are created equal” and also the 1st amendment about religion and freedom in the Declaration of Independence (Unknown 4).

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Throughout history, there have been many contributors that have shaped the U.S. Government into what it is today. John Locke brought the ideas of Tabula Rasa. Voltaire brung the thoughts of Deism. And Montesquieu gave the idea of Separation of Powers. These were just three of the many people that helped develop and change the U.S. Government.

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The Enlightenment was a time where people were beginning to find out that they could speak out against their oppressive leaders and bring to light many of the wrongdoings happening within the many institutions at the time. Two main philosophes who argued for the Enlightenment and its benefits to society in the 18th century were Immanuel Kant and Voltaire, also known as Francois Marie Arouet. These two prominent thinkers criticized the current social, political, and religious systems in place at the time. While both philosophers argue that the Enlightenment is essential to human growth, they both use different ideas and criticisms to prove their point. Both Kant and Voltaire argued that Enlightenment is important in mankind’s growth as a whole

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