THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS

VOLTAIRE

POEM ON THE LISBON DISASTER

&

CANDIDE

AUGUST 8, 2016

LECTURE OUTLINE1. Lisbon Earthquake, 1755

2. Optimism and Suffering

3. Voltaire

4. Literary form

5. Expectations and Progress

6. Happiness

THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE• November 1, 1755

• Seismic information: 10 minutes, 3 jolts, estimated at 9.0 magnitude

• Lisbon was a cultural center of Europe, population 275,000

• Destruction

• Far reaching, including Fez, Morocco

• Tsunami follows & fires break out in the city

• Death toll: 40-50,000

You may judge of the force of this shock, when I inform you it was so violent that I could scarce keep on my knees; but it was attended with some circumstances still more dreadful than the former. On a sudden I heard a general outcry, "The sea is coming in, we shall be all lost." Upon this, turning my eyes towards the river, which in that place is nearly four miles broad, I could perceive it heaving and swelling in the most unaccountable manner, as no wind was stirring. In an instant there appeared, at some small distance, a large body of water, rising as it were like a mountain. It came on foaming and roaring, and rushed towards the shore with such impetuosity, that we all immediately ran for our lives as fast as possible….  - Charles Davy

THEODICY AND OPTIMISM• Writes it in December 1755

• Theodicy: Explaining the existence of evil

• Christian theological difficulty

• Voltaire equates evil with suffering (1)

• Optimism

• Alexander Pope: “Whatever is is right” & Great Chain of Being

• GW Leibniz: This is the best of all possible worlds

Behold the debris and ashes of the unfortunate— These women and children heaped in common ruin, These scattered limbs under the broken marble. See the hundred thousand whom the earth devours! Torn, bloody, and still breathing, they are Entombed beneath roofs, and die without relief From the horror of their suffering lives.

OPTIMISM• Rationalist view (Spinoza) becomes a Moral-Rational

view (Leibniz)

• Consolation in optimism

• Voltaire’s Critique

• It’s really a form of naiveté!

• Experience of suffering shows the world is not “for the best”

• It’s an irresponsible philosophy because it accepts and justifies suffering!

• Voltaire’s objection is on human, not philosophical grounds

• Claim: Sensitivity to suffering should be the foundation of our “philosophy”

• Claim 2: Recognition of suffering involves us in the situation

• Tranquil spectators—you brave souls… (1)

• Humanitarian ethic vs individualistic/self-interested

WHY THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE?

• Natural disaster

• Relationship of God and nature

• Indiscriminate death off all people, including children

• Rousseau argues this is not a natural disaster; it’s a city after all!

VOLTAIRE’S ARGUMENT• Abstract philosophy is easy

• Attributes causes: Necessity, justice, pride

• Ignores practical reality

• Voltaire’s response: Focus on the suffering

• Examples counter necessity, justice, pride (1-2)

• Suffering is not part of the universal good!

• Rejected philosophies

• Optimists, Plato (idealist), Epicurus (materialist/pleasure), Bayle (skeptical empiricism)

The eternal law moves all things. The rocks, dropped by the power of the wind, And the sturdy oak, destroyed by lightning, Do not feel the crushing blows, But I live and feel. My oppressed heart Appeals to the heavens for relief.

POEM’S CONCLUSION

• “What am I? Where am I going? Where am I from?”

• Limits of human knowledge

• Hope

• Will be vs. Is (hope and illusion)

• Caliph’s list of things God lacks (imperfection)

• Voltaire adds hope

• Link between hope, revelation, and suffering (FN12)

VOLTAIRE• 1694, Born as Francois-Marie Arouet, near Paris

• 1717, Imprisoned in Bastille, adopts the name Voltaire

• Lives throughout Europe

• Advocate for civil rights, toleration, and reason

• 1759, Publishes Candide

• 1778, Dies in Paris

• 1789, French Revolution begins

LITERARY FORM• Satire: “Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack

or expose human foolishness or vice” (Am. Heritage)

• Critique what ought to be respected

• Time and culture specific

• Message is “hidden” (requires interpretation)

• Farce: “A light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect” (Am. Heritage)

• Risk: You miss satire when you focus on the farce

• Candide’s humor

One day, as Cunégonde was walking the grounds of the castle, in the little wood which everyone called the park, she caught sight through the undergrowth of Dr Pangloss giving a lesson in experimental physics to her mother’s chambermaid, a very pretty and tractable little brunette. Mlle Cunégonde had a natural aptitude for the sciences, and she noted breathlessly the repeated experiments to which she was witness; she saw clearly the doctor’s sufficient reason, both the effects and the causes, and she returned home very agitated, very thoughtful, and very much filled with desire to be a scientist, reflecting that she might yet prove to be the sufficient reason of young Candide, who might in turn prove to be hers. (Ch1)

CHARACTERS AND NAMING• Doctor Ralph—Narrator, witness of war and

suffering

• Candide—“Solid judgment and openness of mind”

• Pangloss—“All tongue”

• Optimist, Medieval philosopher, Leibniz caricature

• Martin as pessimistic foil

• Cunégonde and Cacambo

Candide’s Journey

OPTIMISM & EXPECTATIONS• Candide’s experiences test the hypothesis that this is the best of

all possible worlds

• Candide’s new definition (52)

• Surinam, slavery, and sugar

• Text frustrates relationship between progress, reason, and expectations

• Predictive power of cause and effect

• Nonsense—Pangloss’s discourse (Ch1)

• Perspective—Girls and Apes (Ch16)

• Readers’ expectations—Corruption and multiple deaths

“What is optimism?” asked Cacambo.

“Alas,” said Candide, “It’s the mania for insisting all is well when all is by no means well.” (52)

PROGRESS• Is knowledge a dead end?

• El Dorado, Pococurante, Turkish dervish

• Humane treatment of others?

• So many scenes of violence and suffering

• Failure of law. A just war?

• And yet, there are good people

• Reason as a tool of progress?

• Truth, practical reason, and hope

HAPPINESS• Westphalia—Garden of Eden

• Innocence, ignorance is bliss

• El Dorado—Paradise

• Candide and Cacambo are happy

• Problem: They’ll be like everyone else

• Wealth, power, and distinction

• Desire and restlessness

• Isolation of El Dorado

Candide kept saying to Cacambo: “It’s true, my friend, and I’ll say it again: the castle where I was born can’t compare with where we are now; on the other hand, Mme Cunégonde is not here…If we remain here, we shall be just like everyone else; but if we return to the old world with only a dozen sheep loaded with Eldoradean pebbles, we shall no longer have Inquisitors to fear, and we shall easily rescue Cunégonde.”

This speech appealed to Cacambo: so pleasant it is to be on the move, to get ourselves noticed back home, and to boast of what we have seen on our travels, that our two happy wanderers resolved to be happy no longer and to seek his Majesty’s permission to depart” (Ch18)

ENDING: MAKE-THE-BEST-OF-IT GARDEN• First ending (90): What changes?

• “That is well said,” replied Candide, “but we must cultivate our garden (le jardin).”

• Repetition of the point (Yes, but…)

• To cultivate your garden

• The farm (literal)

• Garden of your soul (metaphorical)

• English vs French gardens

POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS

• Cultivation—Work as a process, not an end in itself

• Quiescence—Keep your mouth shut, don’t ask questions, accept the world as it is

• Fight poverty, vice, and boredom

• Suffering vs Boredom—“That’s a hard question”

• Distraction of hard work (avoid vice)

• Work toward justice (seek virtue)