Comparing Voltaire's And Socrates Views On The Study Of Philosophy

A philosopher of Athens named Socrates believed one could only judge him/herself, if he/she knows what is good or bad in

In Voltaires?s Candide, the main character, Candide, fails to live happily because he is looking outside of himself and his circumstances to do it. Voltaire says through Candide's ultimate discovery that happiness in many ways depends on a person's attitude. Voltaire's philosophy expressed through Candide's final realization is that "We must cultivate our garden," which is the key to happiness(p.585). By cultivating our garden, Voltaire means that we must make the best of our situation in the present moment. We accept what we are given in life and work to make the best of it. It all has to do with our perspective on life. We do not find happiness somewhere else or by philosophizing about it, we open our eyes to the

I believe Socrates and Voltaire had the same view of the relation between reason and religion. To both philosophers religion was not the same as faith, but a matter of reason.

There are certain rules in life that govern nature and to acquire such one needs to be selfless and determined. The story of Socrates explains life in full as there are people who are willing to hear the truth and there are some who will go to any length to destroy the same truth. To compare how Socrates looked at things and his beliefs and perception of life compared to how Voltaire looked at life. This is a summary of what was captured in Apology, allegory of the cave and the Good Brahmin. These stories have good implication on the essence of philosophy in life. What is philosophy and how should we consider it? In short, these essays talk about enlightenment, which is a process whereby a person comes to know the truth as opposed to being

The study of philosophy and the pursuit of its insights have been a goal of humans for ages and will likely continue to be for the foreseeable future. Why is it that so many people in history would choose to continue to dedicate time and resources to the understanding of things that we will likely never be able to have definitive answers about? Socrates and Voltaire were notable philosophers of not only their own times but still well respected today. Not only did both seek knowledge through philosophy themselves but also thought upon why someone would choose to study philosophy. Plato made a record of Socrates thoughts in his Apology and the Allegory of the Cave Readings in The Republic and Voltaire made his of note in the Story of a Good

Philosophers seek to better themselves as well as others around them, by self-examination and examining others. Socrates did just this, after the prophetess answered he questioned himself “When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can the god mean? and what is the interpretation of his riddle? for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great.” Socrates then looked to examine the so called wise men of his time, trying to understand what wisdom was. All the while he was attempting to discern what the god wanted him to do with this wisdom. Socrates was disliked for traveling around and asking the wise men difficult questions. He contributed to the moral goodness by proving these men to not be as smart as they were thought. They had pride in their knowledge, a pride that made them angry at Socrates. However, Socrates was only concerned with helping those around him attain true happiness, teaching them that true virtue is inside oneself. During the end of his trial he does not think that such just pursuits should be punished, for all the good he has done, he believes it only just to be

The study of philosophy has existed since the beginning of time because of human curiosity. It fueled the minds of countless philosophers, all in pursuit of understanding the world through the five branches Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics, Politics, and Esthetics. Throughout the age’s different theories and beliefs of philosophers contributed to our current understanding of the world. During the different eras philosophical beliefs influenced events and documents of the time. The Enlightenment Era, often called the Age of Reason, brought about many astonishing works deliberating the nature of human beings. As times progressed to the age of Enlightenment the different ideas surfaced changing the way humans thought of themselves. Philosophers of the time believed in the essential goodness of human nature, this was based on the scientific and technological achievements. However, Rousseau claimed the development of civilization corrupted the natural goodness of humans. The beliefs during the age of Enlightenment were presented that we are creatures with the ability to reason and human nature is essentially good, contributing many ideas. Each Philosopher of the Enlightenment Period with very different works; Diderot, Rousseau, and Voltaire largely impacted and influenced the world from the Enlightenment period to today across many spectrums.

While there are a variety of philosophical themes within Voltaire’s novella, Candide, one that is seen repeatedly is the foolishness of chasing happiness. While many view the pursuit of happiness as a noble goal, Voltaire asserts the opposite. By examining Candide’s desires throughout his journey while providing insight into the lives of minor characters, Voltaire develops the idea that true happiness is unattainable. Voltaire tracks Candide’s thoughts and actions as he travels around the world. Regardless of how impressed Candide is by a society, he is never fully contented; even the seemingly perfect society of El Dorado is not appealing enough to Candide for him to stay longer than one month.

he plight of the philosopher is often filled with discontent. The pursuit of truth often leads to more questions than answers. Is this search for the potentially unattainable worthwhile based on the unhappiness and discomfort it produces? Socrates and Voltaire both give a glimpse of their attitudes towards philosophy in their writings. Socrates, a man who was eventually charged and sentenced to death for his philosophical teachings, is of the belief that the pursuit of truth is of the upmost priority. In contrast, Voltaire questions whether such an endeavor is justifiable. These attitudes are portrayed by Socrates in the Apology and the Allegory of the Cave, while Voltaire confesses his perspective in the story of the Good Brahmin.

“No one knows with regards to death whether it is not really the greatest blessing that can happen to a man; but people dread it as though they were certain that it is the greatest evil” (Apology 29a). In his explanation of wisdom and knowledge, Socrates also reveals his worldview of the human condition. Socrates states that those who fear death are foolish because there is no possible way to know what it really holds. He believed that there were things far worse than death. Included among these were ignorance and foolishness. This ties in with his worldview of knowledge as he went to great lengths to seek out a person with more knowledge than himself, an act that defies ignorance according to his definition. Socrates believed that an ignorant life was not a life worth living. When he revealed the ignorance of the politicians, poets, and craftsmen, they were upset, further showing their ignorance in that they were offended in Socrates attempting to impart some wisdom on them. He further states, “I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; that would mean that they had an unlimited power for doing good, which would be a splendid thing. In fact they have neither. They cannot make a man wise or foolish” (Crito 44d). This further imparts Socrates belief that the human

Why would Socrates think that an intellectual knowledge of good is a sufficient condition for being good? Well, Socrates also seems believes that goodness is innate in human beings and that people who have seen what goodness is will want to be good. According to him "the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already" and there is "some art which will effect conversion in the easiest and quickest manner; not implanting the faculty of sight, for that exists already, but has been turned in the wrong direction" (518c-d). So the prisoner is not blind although he lives in the darkness of the cave. In order for him to be able to see the sun, all that needs to be done is for him to be rescued from the underground den. Similarly, the capacity for goodness is innate in human beings and there is no need to implant this quality into their souls. The "art which will effect conversion" is the philosophical art of helping them attain the idea of good (518d). Upon attaining this idea of good, they will be like the freed prisoner who would "felicitate himself

The attempt to find out response to some pertinent questions that tormented the people of all ages is not has always arise. Since the beginning of the world people has always searched for answers to their questioning mind. On that matter, philosophers of all times have to pursue knowledge about the world we are living in, our behavior and the reason why we are on the earth. They have also discussed many other concepts such as the purpose of religions, the concept of government and many others though topics. They’ve also considered metaphysics and human mind, logic, art, knowledge, ethics and so forth. In this assignment, I am going to compare and contrast two talented philosophers the world has ever given, that is that of Socrates and Voltaire.

Since the inception of human civilization, there have been philosophers who have pursued answers to the fundamental ideas related with our lives. Philosophers have investigated abstract things such as thinking, metaphysics, logic, art, religion, knowledge, mind, and ethics and so on. They have inquired answers to the fundamental problems of human life by critical thinking and using rational arguments. And there have been ideas that have been pondered upon by people of different civilizations and time. Out of many philosophers we will compare and contrast the philosophical attitude of two brilliant minds of markedly different time: Socrates and Voltaire.

Introduction Since time immemorial, man wanted to find truths about the world and its inhabitants. Many ideas by famous philosophers have been researched in the quest to know of mankind behavior and way of life. Religion has been questioned, governments, the economy, metaphysics and human intelligence. Philosophers have done this through analytical and critical minds and provided answers to the questions. I will compare and contrast here below Socrates and Voltaire, who are both renowned philosophers.

Consider the difference between knowledge and ignorance. Socrates considers a philosopher to be someone who has pure knowledge without any contaminant from the middle ground of opinions. Philosophers have the ability to comprehend knowledge as they have no ignorance and little opinion to skew the pure knowledge that they have. Socrates is suggesting that only a philosopher has the willpower to separate their knowledge away from their opinions to keep their knowledge pure and just, so that they can do what is best for their people not best for