Enlightenment · deism · philosophy of toleration · 1694–1778
Voltaire
Fight fanaticism with reason and irony.
Paris · Cirey · Ferney
Reading guides
A thread to guide your reading.
Original introductions to enter the works, discover their central questions and take the reflection further.
The garden against the system
Follow Candide’s journey to see how a philosophical tale tests optimism against war, disaster and injustice.
Candide, or OptimismEngland as a mirror
Read the Philosophical Letters as an indirect critique of France through religion, commerce and science.
Philosophical LettersThe Calas affair and tolerance
Trace how a judicial error becomes a general argument for tolerance in the Treatise.
Treatise on Tolerance