Voltaire

Voltaire, in Letters on England (known also as Philosophical Letters), intends to heap praise on England for the relative freedom of its cultural, social, political and religious institutions, and to criticize France for its relative lack of such freedoms. Voltaire wrote the letters in England during a forced period away from France as the result of his having once too often challenged the powers-that-be. Although he praises England, he is not idealistic in his assessment, but instead uses personal and practical standards in his various evaluations. He has some negative comments about England, just as he has some positive comments about France. After all, his work was first aimed at his French readers, who were not likely to take to a work of unadulterated praise for England and unadulterated criticism of France. However, even more important and essential than his overall attitudes toward England and France is his position as an individual thinker free of nationalistic limitations. Although the reader has much to learn from Voltaire about the cultural and historical realities in England and France in the early 18th century, the most valuable lesson to be learned from Voltaire's letters is that each individual has the responsibility of thinking for himself or herself. That is precisely what Voltaire does in the letters, eschewing any overriding theory for the sake of remaining true to his own individual perceptions and conclusions.

As an individual thinker, Voltaire believ

Related Essays

Voltaire and Candide Francois-Marie Arouet de Voltaire, in his satirical masterwork Candide, critiques both society and humanity wit little mercy. The .... (1361 5 )

Voltaire's Candide This research provides an analysis of Voltaire's Candide from a biographical point of view. What must be understood about Candide .... (2197 9 )

Voltaire's Role in Historiography Although Voltaire's utility as a historian has been both praised and maligned, a study of this literary genius is indispensable for the student of world history .... (1588 6 )

Wordsworth & Voltaire Wordsworth & Voltaire: Pleasure as the Ordering of Harmony As major intellectual forces within the nineteenth century's philosophical culture, living within an .... (1575 6 )

Heroism in Voltaire's Candide At the onset of Voltaire's (520) Candide, we are introduced to the hero "whom nature had endowed with the gentlest of characters. His face bespoke his soul. .... (744 3 )

Category: Philosophy - V