Overview
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, 1694–1778) was the French Enlightenment’s sharpest satirist and campaigner for toleration, author of Candide and countless polemics. Imprisoned in the Bastille, exiled in England, resident at Cirey and Ferney, he fought judicial fanaticism in cases such as Calas. Handbook dates: 1694–1778. Deism, wit, and Écrasez l’infâme defined his public persona.
Main ideas
Fanaticism and superstition corrupt justice; toleration is a civil necessity. Philosophical optimism à la Leibniz is mocked when earthquake and cruelty strike—cultivate the garden instead. English empiricism and limited government offered models against absolutist abuses. Deism affirms a creator but rejects revealed dogma’s cruelty. History should be philosophical: manners and arts over dynastic chronicle alone. Wit is a weapon of critique as much as ornament.
Major works
- Candide
- Philosophical Dictionary
- Letters Concerning the English Nation
- Treatise on Tolerance
Legacy
Voltaire became Enlightenment cosmopolitanism’s emblem and free speech’s secular saint. Human-rights campaigns claim his interventions. Classroom satire still begins with Candide’s garden.