Philosophies in Voltaire'sCandide Voltaire'sCandide is a novel with many philosophical ideas about life. Through Candide's journeys and interaction with different cultures throughout the book, we the reader find that Voltaire is describing his ideas or outlooks on life. In the novel, Voltaire portrays three philosophies that are of importance. The first is the philosophy of a utopian society, the second is the philosophy of optimism, and the third is the statement, " we must go and work in our garden.".
The first of the philosophies is that of the utopian society. In the novel, the city of Eldorado is portrayed as the utopian society. Eldorado is Voltaire's ideal world, one that he knew could never exist, but could provide him with an agent to point out sad failings of the real world. In Eldorado, every person is on an equal, class levels don't exist, and crime is nonexistent.
English: Frontispiece and first page of chapter on...
Voltaire's chateau at Ferney-Voltaire, France.
The Auto de fe of Pangloss in Voltaire's Candide, ...In the novel, when Candide sees all of the riches that the Eldoradans inhabit, he is so taken aback by their lack of real interest in it all, he can't understand why they live the way they do. He also uses his philosophy of the utopian society to show how very far short of being perfect our culture falls. He uses it to contrast the experiences that Candide had throughout his journeys. Candide's observance of the horrors of war, devesting earthquakes, the Inquisition in Portugal, and tyranny are there to represent real world dilemmas, while Eldorado represents an oasis of perfection in the real world. Eldorado is a heaven on Earth and something unattainable by the society of Voltaire's day. It can be argued though that because everyone is so wealthy and so happy, there would be absolutely no diversity. Everyone is the same and would be virtual...