Articoli correlati a Candide: Optimism Demolished
Candide came into being largely because of Voltaire's great dissatisfaction with the explanation for the problem of evil and human suffering provided by the philosophers of his day. Published in 1759 when Voltaire was 65, Candide was a direct attack on the school of optimism championed by German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz and English poet Alexander Pope and popularized in the adventure and romance novels of the period.
Optimism, Voltaire's young hero, Candide, asserts, is "the mania for asserting that all is well when one is not." The danger of optimism, Voltaire believed, lies in its essentially passive response to life. If God has given human beings "the best of all possible worlds," as Leibniz claimed, and if everything that happens is somehow for the best, then to what point is human choice and action?
In this well-balanced study, Mason relates the events in Voltaire's personal life and in the world around him that contributed to his revolt: the death of his closest companion; his exile from Paris; the catastrophic Lisbon earthquake of 1755; the eruption and often ruthless conduct of the Seven Years' War. The real-life hardships of psychological pain, natural disaster, and war, Voltaire found, could not be rationalized away by philosophy.
Optimism, Voltaire's young hero, Candide, asserts, is "the mania for asserting that all is well when one is not." The danger of optimism, Voltaire believed, lies in its essentially passive response to life. If God has given human beings "the best of all possible worlds," as Leibniz claimed, and if everything that happens is somehow for the best, then to what point is human choice and action?
In this well-balanced study, Mason relates the events in Voltaire's personal life and in the world around him that contributed to his revolt: the death of his closest companion; his exile from Paris; the catastrophic Lisbon earthquake of 1755; the eruption and often ruthless conduct of the Seven Years' War. The real-life hardships of psychological pain, natural disaster, and war, Voltaire found, could not be rationalized away by philosophy.
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L'autore:
Haydn Mason is Professor of French at the University of Bristol.
Product Description:
Book by Mason Haydn
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- EditoreTwayne Pub
- Data di pubblicazione1992
- ISBN 10 0805780858
- ISBN 13 9780805780857
- RilegaturaCopertina rigida
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Condizioni: buonoItem in good condition. Textbooks... Scopri di più su questo articolo
EUR 8,32
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Candide: Optimism Demolished (Twayne's Masterwork Studies)
Editore:
Twayne Pub
(1992)
ISBN 10: 0805780858
ISBN 13: 9780805780857
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Descrizione libro Condizione: Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Codice articolo 00043508758
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Candide: Optimism Demolished (Twayne's Masterwork Studies)
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Twayne Pub, New York
(1992)
ISBN 10: 0805780858
ISBN 13: 9780805780857
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Descrizione libro Hardcover. Condizione: Fine. Condizione sovraccoperta: Near Fine. First Edition First Printing. 8vo. 124 pages, indexed. Hardcover with a yellow and brown dust jacket. A fresh, clean copy. Looks nearly new. Codice articolo 036027
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Candide: Optimism Demolished (Twayne's Masterwork Studies)
Editore:
Twayne Pub
(1992)
ISBN 10: 0805780858
ISBN 13: 9780805780857
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Descrizione libro Hardcover. Codice articolo Abebooks200600
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