Yet, after putting the full hypocrisy of humanity on display, after chastising the armchair philosophers of his time, Voltaire offers a path of hope to those who wish, much like Candide does, to find a way to go through this life and find enlightenment. At the end of Candide, the ramshackle group of wanderers haveContinue reading “Experience and Actuality: Voltaire’s Criticism of Armchair Philosophers (Part 3 of 3)”
Tag Archives: The Enlightenment
Experience and Actuality: Voltaire’s Criticism of Armchair Philosophers (Part 1 of 3)
The movement of the Enlightenment was rooted in reason. The two concepts, that of enlightenment and rational thinking, had to be linked together, for without reason the sort of reforms the philosophers of the Enlightenment were striving for would be impossible to achieve. Those who called themselves “enlightened” had to be ready to question andContinue reading “Experience and Actuality: Voltaire’s Criticism of Armchair Philosophers (Part 1 of 3)”