Voltaire's Candide

Francois-Marie Arouet De Voltaire wrote "Candide, or Optimism" as a satire to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's philosophy that "this world is the best of all possible worlds." The phrase, "this world is the best of all possible worlds," is an optimistic view as to why there is so much evil in the world and an optimistic approach on how to handle the evil that is in this world.

In the story of "Candide," the main character, Candide, goes through his life facing several trials and tribulations caused by the evil, wicked ways of man. What keeps him going through his life is what his teacher, Pangloss, once taught him; "that everything is for the best" and that "this is the best of all possible worlds." Pangloss is Voltaire's satiric character of philosopher Gottfried Leibniz.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German mathematician and philosopher that discussed the possibility of the best in the world. His Theodicy was a way of justifying the imperfections and evil of this world. It stated that: "it must be the best possible and most balanced world, because it was created by an all powerful and all knowing God, who would not choose to create an imperfect world if a better world could be known to him or possible to exist. In effect, apparent flaws that can be identified in this world must exist in every possible world, because otherwise God would have chosen to create a world that excluded those flaws." This theory was then mocked in Voltaire's "Candide" as a one line phrase, "we live in the best of all possible worlds." Throughout the story it was as if it was a ritual after something bad had happened to repeat that line. From this developed a new word, Panglossian; which implies someone that believes that the world around us is the best possible one. However, in Leibniz's time, he did not achieve much of a following from his Theodicy. The most attention and popularity Leibniz ever achieved was due to Voltaire's satire, "Candide;" in which he was mocked. The philosophy of optimism itself is absurd.

Voltaire's "Candide" makes a very clear case of the absurdity of optimism as a philosophy. In reality, there is only so much that a person can manage to take before losing their mind and coming apart. With all that Candide went through, some people would have already had a nervous breakdown or committed suicide. With as much tragedy as what there is in the world, optimism as a philosophy would be near impossible. For example, Candide was kicked out of his "paradise on Earth" (the castle), lost his love, lost his friend and mentor, was drafted into the army, was beat and almost killed numerous times, and lost his great fortune from Eldorado; these are just a few of Candide's tragedies, there are still a few more not mentioned. Through all the tragedies Candide has been through, witnessed,