Voltaire main ideas

Voltaire established himself as one of the leading writers of the Enlightenment. Often at odds with French authorities over his politically and religiously charged works, he was twice imprisoned and spent many years in exile. He died shortly after returning to Paris in When Voltaire was just seven years old, his mother passed away. Following her death, he grew closer to his free-thinking godfather.

Embracing Enlightenment philosophers such as Isaac Newton , John Locke and Francis Bacon , Voltaire found inspiration in their ideals of a free and liberal society, along with freedom of religion and free commerce. Voltaire, in keeping with other Enlightenment thinkers of the era, was a deist — not by faith, according to him, but rather by reason.

He looked favorably on religious tolerance, even though he could be severely critical towards Christianity, Judaism and Islam. As a vegetarian and an advocate of animal rights, however, Voltaire praised Hinduism, stating Hindus were "[a] peaceful and innocent people, equally incapable of hurting others or of defending themselves.

Voltaire wrote poetry and plays, as well as historical and philosophical works. His most well-known poetry includes The Henriade and The Maid of Orleans , which he started writing in but never fully completed. Among the earliest of Voltaire's best-known plays is his adaptation of Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus , which was first performed in Voltaire followed with a string of dramatic tragedies, including Mariamne In the latter, Voltaire took a unique approach to tracing the progression of world civilization by focusing on social history and the arts.

Voltaire known for

Candide is filled with philosophical and religious parody, and in the end the characters reject optimism. There is great debate on whether Voltaire was making an actual statement about embracing a pessimistic philosophy or if he was trying to encourage people to be actively involved to improve society. In , he published another of his acclaimed philosophical works, Dictionnaire philosophique , an encyclopedic dictionary that embraced the concepts of Enlightenment and rejected the ideas of the Roman Catholic Church.