Voltaires Criticism of Leibniz Essay - 4061 Words

Voltaires Criticism of Leibniz The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, was a time of great intellectual and moral growth for humanity. In part because of the increasing effect of the Protestant Reformation, people were starting to turn to reason for the answers to lifes questions, rather than to the dogmas of the Catholic Church. Scientific inquiry became widespread and accepted as the standard for inquiring into the nature of the universe. The scientific method was developed. For the first time in the history of art, perspective was used in paintings. (Now people who were farther away looked farther away). Great advances were made in medicine, in part because of pioneers like Leonardo da Vinci, who studied the human body†¦show more content†¦(World 11-33) The implication was that the king could perform any action that he wanted to perform, that this action would be sanctioned by God, and that the people had no recourse in the event of injustice. During the Enlightenment, the Social Contract theory of govern ment became popular, in part due to abuse of power by European monarchs. This doctrine was popularized by the political and philosophical writings of Locke, Hobbes, Kant, and Rousseau, among others. It held that humanity had originally existed in a state of nature, without any sort of government or law, and that people entered a compact with other individuals. The people, in entering into the contract, gave up some personal liberty to gain security and the other benefits of government intended to secure law and order. (Government 7-22; Philosophy 19-22) The social contract justification for the existence of government led to the establishment of the idea of government by the consent of the governed, a view which now forms the basis for the governments of the United States and other democratic countries. (Government 7-22) Another philosophical idea which arose and was popular during the Enlightenment was the religious philosophy ofShow MoreRelatedThe Use of Satire in Voltaire’s Candide by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz773 Words   |  4 Pages The Use of Satire in Voltaire’s Candide Satire. According to dictionary.com it is â€Å"the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize peoples stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues†. During a time when going against the common mindset, which at the time was philosophical optimism, was rare and often looked down upon, using satire in order to not only communicate one’s beliefs but also mock those who shared the mainstreamRead MoreCandide by Voltaire Essay1734 Words   |  7 PagesCandide Voltaire’s most classic work, Candide, is a satiric assault on most everything that was prevalent in society during the author’s lifetime. 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His acclaimed novella Candide was initially credited to a Dr. Ralph, and he effectively succeeded to disassociate himself from the novel for quite a long time. In my exposition i will thoroughly examine Voltaires criticism regarding religion, the ideology pertaining to optimism, and how women are depicted in his novel Candide. In his novel Candide, Voltaire regularly condemned religious convictions of his era. His feedback on religion surfaces all throughoutRead More Satire2542 Words   |  11 Pagesmedium of criticism, as well as the opportunity for readers to reflect on how well they may fit the proposer’s persona. In such as case, the satire exists on multiple levels of meaning—not only offering conclusions about moral problems, but also allowing the audience to an interpretation of their place among the criticism. Some of most lasting works of satire exemplify such a function, most specifically through the end-states of the protagonists. 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Leibniz is one of the philosophers who grappled with this problematic. For him, we live in the best of all possible worlds because God chose to create this world, and in trying to solve the problem of evil, his argument provides that the attributes of God