Leibniz

Back to > Candide > Prose > IB A1 English

** GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ ** [by **Dario Napodano**] ** G. W. Leibniz (1646-1716) was a German mathematician. He was born in Leipzig, Saxony, by an intellectual family. At the age of 12 he was a fluent Latin speaker and at 14 he enrolled in the university, earning a degree in Law at 17. ** ** His discoveries were relevant to the world of mathematics since he introduced (along with Isaac Newton) the infinitesimal calculus. He also developed the mechanical calculator and created formulas related to //pi//, triangles and determinants. ** Leibniz was a philosopher too. These were his main philosophies: In his most famous text, //Théodicée// (theodicy, the vindication of divine goodness against evil) he writes about having an optimistic approach to the problem of evil. Leibniz's ideas were particular in the sense that they were generated through //a priori// proofs, therefore without experimental evidence. As we can see from his principles, he tried to confront his philosophy with the Christian ideology. Voltaire (1694-1778) disliked Leibniz's ideas. He was against the view of optimism as a philosophy of life. He once wrote in 1756 that "//[Optimism] is a cruel philosophy with a consoling name//". In the text, he even comes to reduce Leibniz's //sufficient reason theory// as tautology, thus separating cause and effect. In the //Candide,// Voltaire creates an alter ego of Leibniz in Pangloss, with whom he shares the same ideas. For instance, Pangloss believes that everything was created for the best, an argument that coincides with what Leibniz wrote in //Théodicée// : // “This world is the best of all possible worlds, because God, being all-wise and powerful, must be able to create whatever he chooses, and being all-good, must choose the best”. // Analyzing the context within the satire, it is relevant to point out how, during Voltaire's time (since he is a contemporary of him) Leibniz proved his "optimistic" philosophy by saying that our world was the //epitome of perfection//, and that any evil that emerged from it was for the evolution of society. In //Candide//, Voltaire decides to explore what sort of evil comes out of this "perfect world". What he didn't consider though was that Leibniz meant that this world was the best of all possible worlds; he didn't really say it was the best. So there is this contradiction. Nonetheless, Voltaire decided to mock the "optimistic" idea of the world. Leibniz died at the age of 70 in Hannover. Before his death he had become a major courtier in the House of Brunswick.
 * //sufficient reason// (that everything happens for a purpose)
 * //optimism// (in the sense of optimal). Leibniz said that "God always chooses the best" meaning that God has the power to create whatever he chooses (being good), therefore he always chooses the best.
 * //pre-established harmony// (the nature that what happens to someone corresponds to what happens to all the others).

[Sources] [] []  []  []  //Candide// by Voltaire, Notes, Penguin Classics, 2005     Comic of Leibniz & Newton drawn by Randall Munroe for webcomic //xkcd// ([] and[] ) Drawing of Leibniz philosophizing drawn by Ryan Dunlavey ([] f)