VOLTAIRE: BIOGRAPHY, THOUGHTS, WORKS AND CONTRIBUTIONS - HISTORY - 2025

Voltaire, real name François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), was a French philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment, defender of freedom of expression, of the separation of church and state, and critic of the Catholic Church, of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. He wrote poetry, plays, and philosophical and historical works.

Voltaire's contributions to thought and art were diverse and of great importance to various disciplines, from philosophy and politics to religion and even science. Voltaire's works were always a source of controversy for their references and their positions on politics and religion.

Portrait of Voltaire, French thinker (1694-1778)

Due to its satirical tone, it is difficult to know when Voltaire expressed his ideas seriously and when he did not, a fact that has generated disagreements among those who study him. Currently his figure is not so controversial, unlike the extreme hatreds and loves that he generated in his time.

He was a vegetarian and defender of animal rights, believing that Hinduism "are innocent and peaceful people, incapable of harming others or defending themselves."

Biography

Voltaire's birth name was François Marie Arouet. He was born on November 21, 1694 in Paris, France, and was decisive in the age of the Enlightenment.

Historical records indicate that Voltaire's thought had a significant influence on the generation of the French Revolution, a movement that marked a turning point in the context in which they lived.

Studies

Voltaire's family was characterized by being wealthy, which allowed him to obtain a good quality education.

In 1704 he entered the Louis le-Grand Jesuit College, where he obtained his first training. He was there until 1711 and his studies at that institution gave him a broad knowledge of Greek and Latin.

The Louis le-Grand school turned out to be a space highly appreciated by Voltaire, and several friends that he made in this setting remained present throughout his life; moreover, many of these later became influential figures in the public sphere.

For example, one of these characters was Agustín de Ferriol, who was Count D'Argental, plenipotentiary minister and councilor of the Parliament of the time.

Also around these years, Voltaire's godfather, who was the Abbe de Châteauneuf, invited him to participate in meetings of the so-called Temple Society.

This was a group that shared literature sessions and where, in general, there was an unfavorable attitude towards religion. These meetings greatly influenced Voltaire and greatly framed his later thinking.

His godfather also put him in touch with a famous courtesan at the time, named Ninon de Lenclos. Voltaire's impression on this woman was such that, when he died, he decided to leave her two thousand francs so that he could afford more books.

Parent intervention

Voltaire's intention was to live surrounded by this carefree context, full of meetings with the most select of society and with a well-off economic situation. His father worried about this way of seeing life lightly, and made him enroll in a law degree.

Voltaire was not interested in law, so he spent a good part of his formative time writing odes and other literary forms, nothing related to what he was studying.

Seeing this result, Voltaire's father took him to live for a time in Caen, a city located in the west of France; However, this action also did not positively influence the goal of centering his son.

Then, Voltaire's father sent him to The Hague to work as secretary to the Marquis de Châteauneuf, who was the new ambassador of The Hague, as well as the brother of his godfather, the Abbe de Châteauneuf.

Olympe

In this scenario Voltaire met Olympe, a young woman with whom he fell in love and who turned out to be the daughter of Madame Dunoyer, who had fled France and had broad Protestant and critical ideas directed at the monarchy of that country. These ideas were embodied in a periodical called La Quintessence, written by her.

Madame Dunoyer considered Voltaire a nobody, and Voltaire's father did not tolerate his son associating with the daughter of a woman who had had such a controversial performance. For this, neither of the two tutors approved the union of Voltaire and Olympe, and he was sent back to Paris.

Once in Paris, Voltaire tried by all means to meet with Olympe again, but finally his father convinced him otherwise, making him see that he could even order his exile if he did not listen to him.

Back to Law

Voltaire began working as a clerk in a notary's office, but this work still did not interest him. On the other hand, he very much enjoyed publishing mocking poems that spoke of the social and political context of the time, and that had the ability to disturb the wealthier classes of Paris of that time.

Taking into account this new context, the father decided to act again and made him travel to Saint-Ange, where Voltaire returned to his training in law. Despite this, he continued to write and publish, which caused his fame to grow in certain French circles.

Jail

In 1716 Voltaire was sent to jail as a result of some verses published by him in which he criticized the Duke of Orleans.

As a consequence of this fact he was assigned a sentence of imprisonment in the castle of Sully-sur-Loire, but this sentence was aggravated when, in 1717, Voltaire published a new poem called Puero regnante, in which he mocked even worse the Duke of Orleans.

So, Voltaire was taken to the Bastille, and was imprisoned there for eleven months. While in prison, he wrote his iconic Oedipus, which after its publication in 1719 was a success.

In prison he began to be known as Voltaire; in fact, his work Oedipus is the first he signs with this pseudonym.

There is no clarity as to what was the origin of this nickname; some affirm that it is a construction based on his same name, and others indicate that it comes from a transformation of the way in which his mother called him when he was little (“petit volontaire”, which means “stubborn little man”).

After Oedipus, he published La Henriada in 1723, a poem in honor of Henry VI; both works made him be considered a great writer of his time.

Exile

It wasn't long before Voltaire had an encounter with the law again. This time it came as a consequence of a series of discussions he had with the noble Guy Auguste de Rohan-Chabot.

It all started at a social gathering, in which Rohan-Chabot asked Voltaire about his real last name. The latter responded with a sarcastic slight, and Rohan-Chabot was so offended that he staged an ambush in which several men beat Voltaire.

Voltaire asked his noble friends for help to denounce Rohan-Chabot, but none wanted to act against another nobleman, so he decided to take revenge on his own and began to train in the art of fencing.

As soon as Rohan-Chabot learned of his intentions, he requested an imprisonment order against him and Voltaire was taken to the Bastille, later being exiled to England, with a prohibition not to approach less than 50 leagues from Paris. Voltaire arrived in England in May 1726.

In the end, the exile in England was beneficial for Voltaire, since he managed to be in contact with very influential figures of the time, such as Isaac Newton and John Locke

Return to paris

In 1729 he returned to Paris, having a whole bag of new knowledge obtained in England. During the following years he devoted himself to publishing different critical works with an emphasis on the value and promotion of freedom.

Another defining moment in Voltaire's life was when he published his Philosophical Letters, also called English Letters, in which he criticized French nepotism and spoke about the positive of being tolerant in religious spheres, as well as the promotion of freedom of thought.

This scandalized the authorities of the time, who took the copies of this work and burned them in public. At this point Voltaire saw the need to escape to the castle of the Marchioness Émilie du Châtelet, which was located in Cirey.

He stayed there until the Marchioness died in 1739, the year in which he resumed relations with the administration of Louis XV, for whom he worked as a historiographer.

Other destinations and death

More than a decade later, in 1750, Voltaire was summoned by King Frederick II of Prussia, at whose court he was appointed historiographer, academic, and knight of the royal chamber. Within this court he published several of his most emblematic works, such as The Century of Louis XIV, published in 1751.

Some time later Voltaire had an argument with King Frederick II that led him to leave Prussia. From there he traveled to Geneva, where he stayed until 1758 and where his publications were not entirely well received.

Finally, in 1759 he moved to Ferney, France, where he obtained a property on which he lived for 18 years. Voltaire died in 1778; some time before he received a great tribute in Paris, where he stayed until his death.

Thought

Most of the ideas that shaped Voltaire's thinking are said to have been conceived around the time he lived in Ferney, towards the end of his life in 1760.

Religion

The first relevant aspect of Voltaire's thought is that he considered religion to be rather an activity full of fanaticism and superstitions.

It is worth noting that Voltaire was not an atheist, he did believe in God, but he strongly criticized the actions of the clergy. For him, people who believed in God were naturally honorable.

He was a staunch defender of freedom of worship and tolerance, especially in the religious sphere. For this thinker, wars based on religious elements generated an absurd scenario.

His criticism of religious fanaticism included both Catholics and Protestants, this framed by the fact that he favored freedom of worship.

Tolerance

The tolerance that Voltaire advocated included the religious sphere, but was not limited only to it. According to Voltaire, tolerance is essential in all settings.

In this area, Voltaire sentences with a phrase that is widely used today: "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you."

For Voltaire, the foundation of natural law was essential to show that any type of intolerant action was out of place, and could even be considered barbaric. These ideas about tolerance can be considered to be still valid today.

Politics

Voltaire's conception in the political sphere was clearly in keeping with the British system, to which he had access during his exile.

For Voltaire the most important thing was the maintenance of individual freedoms, and he believed in systems that promoted such freedoms. For this, Voltaire was not necessarily averse to monarchies, provided they respected the freedoms of individuals.

Furthermore, Voltaire was against the arbitrary attitudes of the monarchs; To avoid this, he proposed the existence of a council of ministers steeped in the ideas of the Enlightenment, preventing selfish actions and other despotic activities.

Economy and society

In the economic and social sphere, Voltaire was always in favor of private property. As has been seen, he was a man very attracted to the wealth and wealthy life of the aristocracy.

This thinker did not believe in equality; He did not consider it a natural right, but rather a utopian concept. In fact, historical records rather reveal that Voltaire did not take any action for the benefit of the most disadvantaged classes of the time; he lacked social sensitivity.

Instead, he had a short vision of the common people, indicating that it was not possible for them to reason. Nor did he look favorably on the nobles; they were only in a favorable scenario for him when he was in the midst of the gentry.

Part of the elements for which he advocated during his life was to have an efficient judicial system, without nepotism, with a greater capacity to provide real justice.

Plays

Voltaire published a large number of works, including essays, plays, poems, and odes, among other literary genres. Below we will mention some of the most important:

Treatise on tolerance

This work was written in the context of what happened to Jean Calas, a merchant member of the Protestant religion who was assigned the death penalty in 1762 for having been accused of killing his own son for converting to the Catholic religion.

This turned out to be false and years later his innocence was recognized, but Voltaire was inspired by this fact to criticize the clergy very strongly.

Fanaticism or Muhammad the Prophet

This work focuses on fanaticism as a very harmful and unfavorable element for any society. In this case the fanaticism is focused on the religious sphere.

The century of Louis XIV

It was a laudatory work towards Louis XIV, in which he recognizes the impact that this monarch had, who was surrounded by very capable advisers. This was one of his most important historiographical works.

Pocket Philosophical Dictionary

In this book, published in 1764, Voltaire analyzes aspects of politics and economics, although he focuses mainly on the religious sphere. It is in this dictionary where this thinker speaks of equality as a chimera, not associated with any natural right.

Contributions

Religion and philosophy

Voltaire's writings on religion were diverse. Among them are letters that he wrote to leaders inviting them to commit to excluding religion from the social order.

Voltaire was a deist and despite his attacks on Christianity, he always defended the practice of different religions from his work.

Among his contributions in religion and philosophy, Voltaire wrote about Jesus as an understanding of "natural religion" and defended the religious system of rewards and punishments for its practical purposes.

Political and social influence

Voltaire's contributions in politics and society had a great impact on the society of his time. His essays, pamphlets and works disseminated his thinking in this regard.

For his liberal vision, based on the right of men to freedom, Voltaire is considered one of the main thinkers of the French enlightenment.

Poetry

Voltaire's poetic work is also considered one of the great contributions of this French.

Voltaire presented poetry as a manifestation of the work of art that aims at the production of beauty.

From his vision of poetry and the arts, Voltaire defined the distinction between the liberal arts that seek beauty, and the technique that seeks specialized knowledge.

His most famous poetic work was "La Henriada". La Henriada is a long epic poem of 10 songs published by Voltaire in 1723.

Prose and other artistic writings

Voltaire's artistic work was not limited to poetry. Voltaire also gave humanity great prose writings, including satires, novels, and plays.

Much of Voltaire's fame was due to the light and clearness of his prose.

Among Voltaire's most famous texts are the play “Oedipus” and the novels “Zadig or destiny” and “Micromegas”.

Contributions to science and history

Voltaire also contributed several writings on science and history.

In science, Voltaire wrote some books on Newton's findings and his philosophy. Voltaire gained fame in science not so much for his discoveries, but for his great curiosity in various scientific fields and his ability to interpret the essential part of investigative works.

His history works are considered of great importance. Among the historical themes that Voltaire wrote about are texts against wars and churches, and texts about such figures as Charles XII of Switzerland and Louis XV.

References

1. Johnson W. Voltaire: 1994, the 300th Anniversary of His Birth: His Legacy and His Compeers, Then and Since. International Journal of Mechanical Science. 1994; 36 (10): 961–975.
2. Johnson W. Voltaire after 300 Years. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 1994; 48 (2): 215–220.
3. Patrick H. Voltaire as Moralist. Journal of the History of Ideas. 1977; 38 (1): 141–146.
4. Perez Rivas DA The Optimal and not so Optimal Philosophical-Literary Resources of the Candido de Voltaire. Intus-Legere Philosophy. 2013; 7 (2): 35–49.
5. Rockwood R. Voltaire. The Journal of Modern History. 1937; 9 (4): 493–501.
6. Stark R. Finke R. (2000). Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. University of California press.