Voltaire, Candide ou l’optimisme

Our Reading Journey

In the spring of 2022, we followed the misadventures of the naive and endearing Candide, who is expelled from his idyllic Westphalian castle and thrust into a world of war, earthquake, and Inquisition. His journey takes him from Europe to the mythic Eldorado and finally to the shores of Turkey, all while he clings to the absurdly optimistic teachings of his mentor, Dr. Pangloss. It is a narrative of constant movement and repeated trauma, serving as a brutal education for a protagonist who begins with everything and ends with the truth.

Our analysis centered on the critique of Leibnizian optimism (although we were not quite sure he really understood Leibniz!). We analyzed how Voltaire used the 1755 Lisbon earthquake as a catalyst to demolish the metaphysical belief that suffering is merely a necessary part of a divine plan. We explored the core Enlightenment tensions: the fight against religious fanaticism and the rejection of metaphysical speculation in favor of empirical reality. The intellectual peak of our session was the deconstruction of the final line: "Il faut cultiver notre jardin" (One must cultivate one’s garden). We debated whether this line is an act of withdrawal into the private sphere or a radical call to practical, local action as a defense against the absurdity of the world. We concluded that Voltaire’s joy of the here and now is not a passive happiness but a hard-won pragmatic resilience.

About the Author

François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694–1778), remains the iconic figure of the French Enlightenment. A playwright, historian, and polemicist, he spent his life battling l'infâme (bigotry and superstition). Known for his biting wit and free thought, he was a celebrity in his time, often living in exile to escape the very tyranny he mocked. Candide remains his most enduring work—a philosophical tale that proved a novel could be a weapon, a shield, and a celebration of human reason all at once.