About Voltaire: Voltaire is a French Enlightenment thinker. He was philosopher and a writer. He wrote many stories and plays, and some of them are famous like Henriade, Irène, dipe. He was twice sent to the Bastille for insults, and he was also exiled in England for 3 years. Voltaire believed in the thoughts of freedom and in monarchy.
What Voltaire thinks about the Nature of Man:
Voltaire was not a philosopher that cared about making a "perfect society" or an utopia. He only said that the world could be a better place if everyone replaced the selfishness and superstition with rational thought and knowledge. He also believed that all humans are born in a sinful nature and the more they think about "all is for the best" then they forget about the real problems in life.
What Voltaire thinks is the best form of government:
Voltaire believed in monarchy, with a good king or queen that could govern all people and improve society. He didn’t trust in democracy, people voting for a proper leader. Every person should have the same rights in society, but, unlike communism, people are allowed to own things. Voltaire wanted to create a society with classes but the entire have all the same rights.
What is Voltaire's View on Human Rights:
Voltaire didn't agree with the French government, because he believed that humans should have the Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to assemble, right to protest, freedom to think and act like a "manly man" or a "womanly woman", and the French government opposed all these freedoms and rights. Although he wasn’t an atheist, he rejected all the religions that opposed that freedom of thought. That is why he became a great enemy of the Catholic Church in France. He did not want the church and state to combine, because then the church can make the rules and the state enforce it. This opposed the idea of freedom of thought that Voltaire introduced. As for women rights, Voltaire advocated for the rights of women to be equal.
How does Voltaire view religion: Voltaire would always criticize other races, but then he would always change his mind about it. He is a Deist, anti-Semite, he hated Islam, and a hypocrite. He sometimes was for the church and sometimes against it. One of his quotes on religion: “What is faith? is it to believe that which is evident? No. it is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason.”
What is a perfect society according to Voltaire: To Voltaire a perfect world is where men are free, money is worthless, and everyone is friends. He mentions this in one of his stories; Candide, where the main character encounters these places in the story.
What would Voltaire say about our world:
Voltaire will like and dislike some things in our world today. He would like our world because there is not as much slavery than in the past. He will also like our world because in most countries the church and state are separated, so everyone has the freedom of thought. He might not like our world, because there is war and money is not worthless. Most countries in the world are democracy and he believes in Monarchy.
Facts about Voltaire:
Birth Name: François-Marie Arouet
Born: November 21, 1694 in Paris, France
Died: May 30, 1778 in Paris, France
Key Subjects: Catholic Church Dogma, civil liberties and social reform
Studied Law
Exiled for inflammatory writings- imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months, in 1717, because of a satirical piece he wrote about the French government of the time;
he spent 3 years in exile in England, from 1726 to 1729, where he got interested in work of John Locke, and that of Sir Isaac Newton
Wrote first play in prison
Never Married
A millionaire by age 40
Was a freemason
In 1814, a group of right-wing religious fundamentalists stole Voltaire’s remains and dumped them onto a garbage heap
Voltaire's heart is being kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris
Voltaire's brain was also removed after his death, but, after passing from hand to hand, over some 100 years, it disappeared after an auction.
Language: French, Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish and English
François-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
About Voltaire:
Voltaire is a French Enlightenment thinker. He was philosopher and a writer. He wrote many stories and plays, and some of them are famous like Henriade, Irène, dipe. He was twice sent to the Bastille for insults, and he was also exiled in England for 3 years. Voltaire believed in the thoughts of freedom and in monarchy.
What Voltaire thinks about the Nature of Man:
Voltaire was not a philosopher that cared about making a "perfect society" or an utopia. He only said that the world could be a better place if everyone replaced the selfishness and superstition with rational thought and knowledge. He also believed that all humans are born in a sinful nature and the more they think about "all is for the best" then they forget about the real problems in life.
What Voltaire thinks is the best form of government:
Voltaire believed in monarchy, with a good king or queen that could govern all people and improve society. He didn’t trust in democracy, people voting for a proper leader. Every person should have the same rights in society, but, unlike communism, people are allowed to own things. Voltaire wanted to create a society with classes but the entire have all the same rights.
What is Voltaire's View on Human Rights:
Voltaire didn't agree with the French government, because he believed that humans should have the Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right to assemble, right to protest, freedom to think and act like a "manly man" or a "womanly woman", and the French government opposed all these freedoms and rights. Although he wasn’t an atheist, he rejected all the religions that opposed that freedom of thought. That is why he became a great enemy of the Catholic Church in France. He did not want the church and state to combine, because then the church can make the rules and the state enforce it. This opposed the idea of freedom of thought that Voltaire introduced. As for women rights, Voltaire advocated for the rights of women to be equal.
How does Voltaire view religion:
Voltaire would always criticize other races, but then he would always change his mind about it. He is a Deist, anti-Semite, he hated Islam, and a hypocrite. He sometimes was for the church and sometimes against it. One of his quotes on religion: “What is faith? is it to believe that which is evident? No. it is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason.”
What is a perfect society according to Voltaire:
To Voltaire a perfect world is where men are free, money is worthless, and everyone is friends. He mentions this in one of his stories; Candide, where the main character encounters these places in the story.
What would Voltaire say about our world:
Voltaire will like and dislike some things in our world today. He would like our world because there is not as much slavery than in the past. He will also like our world because in most countries the church and state are separated, so everyone has the freedom of thought. He might not like our world, because there is war and money is not worthless. Most countries in the world are democracy and he believes in Monarchy.
Facts about Voltaire:
- Birth Name: François-Marie Arouet
- Born: November 21, 1694 in Paris, France
- Died: May 30, 1778 in Paris, France
- Key Subjects: Catholic Church Dogma, civil liberties and social reform
- Studied Law
- Exiled for inflammatory writings- imprisoned in the Bastille for eleven months, in 1717, because of a satirical piece he wrote about the French government of the time;
- Wrote first play in prison
- Never Married
- A millionaire by age 40
- Was a freemason
- In 1814, a group of right-wing religious fundamentalists stole Voltaire’s remains and dumped them onto a garbage heap
- Voltaire's heart is being kept in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris
- Voltaire's brain was also removed after his death, but, after passing from hand to hand, over some 100 years, it disappeared after an auction.
- Language: French, Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish and English
Cites:he spent 3 years in exile in England, from 1726 to 1729, where he got interested in work of John Locke, and that of Sir Isaac Newton