Difference between revisions of "Voltaire"
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In his ''Philosophical Dictionary,'' he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the Christians and the Jews in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the [[Muslim|Mohammedans]] were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned.As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war."<ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volrelig.html</ref> | In his ''Philosophical Dictionary,'' he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the Christians and the Jews in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the [[Muslim|Mohammedans]] were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned.As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war."<ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volrelig.html</ref> | ||
| − | + | However, in a letter sent to [[Frederick II]] Voltaire once claimed: | |
| − | + | "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." | |
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==Voltaire on Democracy== | ==Voltaire on Democracy== | ||
Revision as of 04:00, September 24, 2007
Voltaire (pen name of François-Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) was a leading philosopher in the Enlightenment, advocating freedom everywhere and emphasizing his form of reason. He was a deist who rejected Christianity and criticized organized religion. Voltaire is sometimes called the "Father of the Enlightenment."
A Frenchman, he wrote "Candide," in which Voltaire described many bad things that happen to Candide in order to make the point that the world could be a better place. Increased freedom was Voltaire's way of improving things.
The late historian Kenneth Clarke described him as possibly the most intelligent man to have ever lived.
Voltaire on Religion
Voltaire was very critical of religion, and has been variously categorized as an atheist or deist. In his Philosophical Dictionary, he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the Christians and the Jews in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the Mohammedans were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned.As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war."[1]
However, in a letter sent to Frederick II Voltaire once claimed: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world."
Voltaire on Democracy
Voltaire was a strong proponent of democracy in an age when republican government was practically nonexistent and kings ruled. In a dialogue between men of all the lands of his day, they lament "that there is not one republic in all this vast part of the world", and that they long to live in "The state where only the laws are obeyed". When the Brahmin is asked where that country is, he answers, 'We must look for it'. [2]
Voltaire believed that any excesses or wrongs wrought by democracies were inherently less evil or harmful than those than could be inflicted by tyrannies. "The great vice of democracy is certainly not tyranny and cruelty: there have been mountain-dwelling republicans, savage, ferocious; but it is not the republican spirit that made them so, it is nature. The real vice of a civilized republic is in the Turkish fable of the dragon with many heads and the dragon with many tails. The many heads hurt each other, and the many tails obey a single head which wants to devour everything."