Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When did Voltaire publish Candide?
It is unknown exactly when Voltaire wrote "Candide", but scholars estimate that it was primarily composed in late 1758 and begun as early as 1757. Voltaire is believed to have written a portion of it while living at Les Délices near Geneva and also while visiting Charles Théodore, the Elector-Palatinate at Schwetzingen, for three weeks in the summer of 1758. Despite solid evidence for these claims, a popular legend persists that Voltaire wrote "Candide" in three days. This idea is probably based on a misreading of the 1885 work by Lucien Perey (real name: Clara Adèle Luce Herpin) and Gaston Maugras. The evidence indicates strongly that Voltaire did not rush or improvise "Candide", but worked on it over a significant period of time, possibly even a whole year. "Candide" is mature and carefully developed, not impromptu, as the intentionally choppy plot and the aforementioned myth might suggest.
There is only one extant manuscript of "Candide" that was written before the work's 1759 publication; it was discovered in 1956 by Wade and since named the "La Vallière Manuscript". It is believed to have been sent, chapter by chapter, by Voltaire to the Duke and Duchess La Vallière in the autumn of 1758. The manuscript was sold to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in the late eighteenth century, where it remained undiscovered for almost two hundred years. The "La Vallière Manuscript", the most original and authentic of all surviving copies of "Candide", was probably dictated by Voltaire to his secretary, Jean-Louis Wagnière, then edited directly. In addition to this manuscript, there is believed to have been another, one copied by Wagnière for the Elector Charles-Théodore, who hosted Voltaire during the summer of 1758. The existence of this copy was first postulated by Norman L. Torrey in 1929. If it exists, it remains undiscovered.
Voltaire published "Candide" simultaneously in five countries no later than 15 January 1759, although the exact date is uncertain. Seventeen versions of "Candide" from 1759, in the original French, are known today, and there has been great controversy over which is the earliest. More versions were published in other languages: "Candide" was translated once into Italian and thrice into English that same year. The complicated science of calculating the relative publication dates of all of the versions of "Candide" is described at length in Wade's article "The First Edition of "Candide": A Problem of Identification". The publication process was extremely secretive, probably the "most clandestine work of the century", because of the book's obviously illicit and irreverent content. The greatest number of copies of "Candide" were published concurrently in Geneva by Cramer, in Amsterdam by Marc-Michel Rey, in London by Jean Nourse, and in Paris by Lambert.
"Candide" underwent one major revision after its initial publication, in addition to some minor ones. In 1761, a version of "Candide" was published that included, along with several minor changes, a major addition by Voltaire to the twenty-second chapter, a section that had been thought weak by the Duke of Vallière. The English title of this edition was "Candide, or Optimism, Translated from the German of Dr. Ralph. With the additions found in the Doctor's pocket when he died at Minden, in the Year of Grace 1759." The last edition of "Candide" authorised by Voltaire was the one included in Cramer's 1775 edition of his complete works, known as , in reference to the border or frame around each page.
Voltaire strongly opposed the inclusion of illustrations in his works, as he stated in a 1778 letter to the writer and publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke:
An early focus for the Whig Patriots was "The Craftsman", a newspaper founded in 1726 by Pulteney and Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, the former Tory minister, who for a decade called for a "country" party coalition of non-Jacobite Tories and opposition Whigs to defeat Walpole and the Court Whigs. Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay, and Henry Fielding all wrote for "The Craftsman". Bolingbroke's "The Idea of a Patriot King" (1738; published 1749) adopted the language of "patriotism" to critique political theories used by Walpole and his successors to justify their actions. Many of the anti-Walpolean satires of the 1730s mixed Tory and Patriot Whig stances, and some authors, such as Henry Carey, were simultaneously satirizing Queen Caroline for her backing of Walpole and penning patriotic operas and songs (e.g. "Rule, Britannia!", "God Save the King").
Rousseau had a resounding success in 1756 with his opera "Devin du Village", and was invited to Versailles to meet the King, but he refused. Instead, he wrote the "Contrat Social" calling for a new system based upon political and economic equality, published in 1762. Increasingly solitary and unstable, he wandered from province to province, before returning to Paris, where he died in solitude in 1778. His ideas, composed during the reign of Louis XV, were adopted by the revolutionaries who overthrew Louis XVI in 1789.
Whilst the political and social conditions in Italy in the 17th century made it appear that every light of intelligence was extinguished, some strong and independent thinkers, such as Bernardino Telesio, Lucilio Vanini, Bruno and Campanella turned philosophical inquiry into fresh channels, and opened the way for the scientific conquests of Galileo Galilei, the great contemporary of René Descartes in France and of Francis Bacon in England. Galileo was not only a great man of science, but also occupied a conspicuous place in the history of letters. A devoted student of Ariosto, he seemed to transfuse into his prose the qualities of that great poet: clear and frank freedom of expression, precision and ease, and at the same time elegance. Galileo's prose is in perfect antithesis to the poetry of his time and is regarded by some as the best prose that Italy has ever had.
Some of the earliest mentions of Mars's moons in fiction predate their discovery. In Jonathan Swift's famous satire "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), the astronomers of flying island Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites of Mars. Voltaire's short story "Micromégas" (1752), about alien visitors from Sirius and Saturn, also describes Mars as having two moons. Voltaire is thought to have been influenced by Swift. In recognition of these mentions, many geological features of Phobos and Deimos are named after characters and places from "Gulliver's Travels", including among others "Laputa Regio" and "Lagado Planitia" on Phobos, and craters Swift and Voltaire on Deimos.
Descartes refused to accept the authority of previous philosophers. He frequently set his views apart from those of his predecessors. In the opening section of the "Passions of the Soul", an early modern treatise on emotions, Descartes goes so far as to assert that he will write on this topic "as if no one had written on these matters before". His best known philosophical statement is "I think, therefore I am" (; ), found in "Discourse on the Method" (1637; written in French and Latin) and "Principles of Philosophy" (1644; written in Latin).
A Tale of a Tub was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, arguably his most difficult satire and perhaps his most masterly. The "Tale" is a prose parody divided into sections each delving into the morals and ethics of the English. Composed between 1694 and 1697, it was eventually published in 1704. It was long regarded as a satire on religion, and has famously been attacked for that, starting with William Wotton.
Between 1880-1882, a young clerical student in Paris named Jean Parisot published what was purported to be "material of the Taensa language, including papers, songs, a grammar and vocabulary"; this generated considerable interest among philologists. There was doubt about this material for many years; noted American anthropologist and linguist John R. Swanton conclusively proved the work to be a hoax in a series of publications in 1908-1910.
Kant published other important works on ethics, religion, law, aesthetics, astronomy, and history. These include the "Universal Natural History" (1755), the "Critique of Practical Reason" (1788), the "Metaphysics of Morals" (1797), and the "Critique of Judgment" (1790), which looks at aesthetics and teleology.
Galileo went on to propose a theory of tides in 1616, and of comets in 1619; he argued that the tides were evidence for the motion of the earth. In 1632 Galileo, now an old man, published his "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems", which implicitly defended heliocentrism, and was immensely popular. Responding to mounting controversy over theology, astronomy and philosophy, the Roman Inquisition tried Galileo in 1633 and found him "vehemently suspect of heresy", sentencing him to indefinite imprisonment. Galileo was kept under house arrest until his death in 1642.
The "Tale" was originally published in 1704 by John Nutt. Swift had used Benjamin Tooke previously when publishing for Sir William Temple. He would use Tooke for both the fifth edition of the "Tale" (1710) and later works. Tooke's successor, Benjamin Motte, published Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". This difference in printer is only one of the things that led to debate over authorship of the work.
The two men finally in person in 1842. Humboldt died in 1859, sixth months before the first edition of "On the Origin of Species" was published. In letters to his close friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, Darwin reflected that his "whole course of life" was due to having read Humboldt's "Personal Narrative" and conclusively praised Humboldt as the "Greatest scientific traveller who ever lived."
In 1632 Galileo published "Dialogo sopra i due Massimi Sistemi del Mondo" ("Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems"), a fictitious four day-long discussion about natural philosophy between the characters Salviati (who argued for Copernican ideas and was effectively a mouthpiece of Galileo), Sagredo, who represented the interested but less well-informed reader, and Simplicio, who argued for Aristotle, and whose arguments were possibly a parody of those made by Pope Urban VIII. The book was reviewed by the Roman Inquisition and in 1633 Galileo was interrogated and found 'vehemently suspect of heresy' because of it. He was forced to renounce his belief in heliocentrism, sentenced to house arrest and banned from publishing anything further. The "Dialogue" was placed on the Index.
Les Hommes de bonne volonté () is an epic roman-fleuve by French writer Jules Romains, published in 27 volumes between 1932 and 1946. It has been classified both as a novel cycle and a novel and, at two million words and 7,892 pages, has been cited as one of the longest novels ever written.
Paton was a notable Kantian scholar; in this he abandoned his earlier attraction to the idealist philosophy of Benedetto Croce (1866-1952). His works of Kantian commentary included "Kant's Metaphysics of Experience" (1936), "The Categorical Imperative" (1947), and "The Moral Law" (a translation of Kant's "Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten" [Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals], 1785] (1947). Paton delivered the Gifford Lectures at the University of St Andrews, 1949–50; the lectures were published as "The Modern Predicament" (1955).
The intellectual dynamism in 18th century Italy was considerable, across the gamut of genres. Italian elites became conversant with French Enlightenment principles and with English ideas, too, spread by young aristocrats on the grand tour. By the 1760s and 1770s, the Italian authors who were members of academies and contributors to philosophical and literary journals began to disseminate their ideas close to the realm of power in Milan and Turin, Parma and Modena, Florence and Naples. Important representatives of the Italian Enlightenment were Pietro Verri, Pietro Giannone, and Philip Mazzei, a close friend of Thomas Jefferson, who spent many years in America and had an indirect influence on the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. Inspired by Cesare Beccaria's theses — on liberal ideas and humanitarian sentiments — the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was the first state in the world to abolish the death penalty in 1786.
In 1789, Revolutionary France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and, although short-lived, the National Convention was elected by all males in 1792. Universal male suffrage was re-established in France in the wake of the French Revolution of 1848.
From then on, Kant turned increasingly to philosophical issues, although he continued to write on the sciences throughout his life. In the early 1760s, Kant produced a series of important works in philosophy. "The False Subtlety of the Four Syllogistic Figures", a work in logic, was published in 1762. Two more works appeared the following year: "Attempt to Introduce the Concept of Negative Magnitudes into Philosophy" and "The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God". In 1764, Kant wrote "Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime" and then was second to Moses Mendelssohn in a Berlin Academy prize competition with his "Inquiry Concerning the Distinctness of the Principles of Natural Theology and Morality" (often referred to as "The Prize Essay"). In 1766 Kant wrote "Dreams of a Spirit-Seer" which dealt with the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. The exact influence of Swedenborg on Kant, as well as the extent of Kant's belief in mysticism according to "Dreams of a Spirit-Seer", remain controversial. On 31 March 1770, aged 45, Kant was finally appointed Full Professor of Logic and Metaphysics ("Professor Ordinarius der Logic und Metaphysic") at the University of Königsberg. In defense of this appointment, Kant wrote his inaugural dissertation ("Inaugural-Dissertation") "De Mundi Sensibilis atque Intelligibilis Forma et Principiis" ("On the Form and Principles of the Sensible and the Intelligible World)". This work saw the emergence of several central themes of his mature work, including the distinction between the faculties of intellectual thought and sensible receptivity. To miss this distinction would mean to commit the error of subreption, and, as he says in the last chapter of the dissertation, only in avoiding this error does metaphysics flourish.
Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences () is a philosophical and autobiographical treatise published by René Descartes in 1637. It is best known as the source of the famous quotation ""Je pense, donc je suis"" (English: "I think, therefore I am", or "I am thinking, therefore I exist"), which occurs in Part IV of the work. The similar Latin statement, "Cogito, ergo sum", is found in "Meditations on First Philosophy" (1641) and "Principles of Philosophy" (1644).
In 1792, Kant's attempt to publish the Second of the four Pieces of "Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason", in the journal "Berlinische Monatsschrift", met with opposition from the King's censorship commission, which had been established that same year in the context of the French Revolution. Kant then arranged to have all four pieces published as a book, routing it through the philosophy department at the University of Jena to avoid the need for theological censorship. This insubordination earned him a now famous reprimand from the King. When he nevertheless published a second edition in 1794, the censor was so irate that he arranged for a royal order that required Kant never to publish or even speak publicly about religion. Kant then published his response to the King's reprimand and explained himself, in the preface of "The Conflict of the Faculties".
He also wrote a number of semi-popular essays on history, religion, politics and other topics. These works were well received by Kant's contemporaries and confirmed his preeminent status in 18th-century philosophy. There were several journals devoted solely to defending and criticizing Kantian philosophy. Despite his success, philosophical trends were moving in another direction. Many of Kant's most important disciples and followers (including Reinhold, Beck and Fichte) transformed the Kantian position into increasingly radical forms of idealism. The progressive stages of revision of Kant's teachings marked the emergence of German Idealism. Kant opposed these developments and publicly denounced Fichte in an open letter in 1799. It was one of his final acts expounding a stance on philosophical questions. In 1800, a student of Kant named Gottlob Benjamin Jäsche (1762–1842) published a manual of logic for teachers called "Logik", which he had prepared at Kant's request. Jäsche prepared the "Logik" using a copy of a textbook in logic by Georg Friedrich Meier entitled "Auszug aus der Vernunftlehre", in which Kant had written copious notes and annotations. The "Logik" has been considered of fundamental importance to Kant's philosophy, and the understanding of it. The great 19th-century logician Charles Sanders Peirce remarked, in an incomplete review of Thomas Kingsmill Abbott's English translation of the introduction to "Logik", that "Kant's whole philosophy turns upon his logic." Also, Robert Schirokauer Hartman and Wolfgang Schwarz, wrote in the translators' introduction to their English translation of the "Logik", "Its importance lies not only in its significance for the "Critique of Pure Reason", the second part of which is a restatement of fundamental tenets of the "Logic", but in its position within the whole of Kant's work."
In 1789, Revolutionary France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and, although short-lived, the National Convention was elected by all men in 1792. It was revoked by the Directory in 1795. Universal male suffrage was re-established in France in the wake of the French Revolution of 1848.
Separate from the debate about the text's conclusion is the "inside/outside" controversy. This argument centers on the matter of whether or not Voltaire was actually prescribing anything. Roy Wolper, professor emeritus of English, argues in a revolutionary 1969 paper that "Candide" does not necessarily speak for its author; that the work should be viewed as a narrative independent of Voltaire's history; and that its message is entirely (or mostly) it. This point of view, the "inside", specifically rejects attempts to find Voltaire's "voice" in the many characters of "Candide" and his other works. Indeed, writers have seen Voltaire as speaking through at least Candide, Martin, and the Turk. Wolper argues that "Candide" should be read with a minimum of speculation as to its meaning in Voltaire's personal life. His article ushered in a new era of Voltaire studies, causing many scholars to look at the novel differently.
A number of historical events inspired Voltaire to write "Candide", most notably the publication of Leibniz's "Monadology", a short metaphysical treatise, the Seven Years' War, and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Both of the latter catastrophes are frequently referred to in "Candide" and are cited by scholars as reasons for its composition. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, tsunami, and resulting fires of All Saints' Day, had a strong influence on theologians of the day and on Voltaire, who was himself disillusioned by them. The earthquake had an especially large effect on the contemporary doctrine of optimism, a philosophical system which implies that such events should not occur. Optimism is founded on the theodicy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and says all is for the best because God is a benevolent deity. This concept is often put into the form, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" (). Philosophers had trouble fitting the horrors of this earthquake into their optimistic world view.
Voltaire actively rejected Leibnizian optimism after the natural disaster, convinced that if this were the best possible world, it should surely be better than it is. In both "Candide" and ("Poem on the Lisbon Disaster"), Voltaire attacks this optimist belief. He makes use of the Lisbon earthquake in both "Candide" and his to argue this point, sarcastically describing the catastrophe as one of the most horrible disasters "in the best of all possible worlds". Immediately after the earthquake, unreliable rumours circulated around Europe, sometimes overestimating the severity of the event. Ira Wade, a noted expert on Voltaire and "Candide", has analyzed which sources Voltaire might have referenced in learning of the event. Wade speculates that Voltaire's primary source for information on the Lisbon earthquake was the 1755 work by Ange Goudar.
At Brussels, Voltaire and Rousseau met up for a few days, before Voltaire and his mistress continued northwards. A publisher was eventually secured in The Hague. In the Netherlands, Voltaire was struck and impressed by the openness and tolerance of Dutch society. On his return to France, he secured a second publisher in Rouen, who agreed to publish "La Henriade" clandestinely. After Voltaire's recovery from a month-long smallpox infection in November 1723, the first copies were smuggled into Paris and distributed. While the poem was an instant success, Voltaire's new play, "Mariamne", was a failure when it first opened in March 1724. Heavily reworked, it opened at the "Comédie-Française" in April 1725 to a much-improved reception. It was among the entertainments provided at the wedding of Louis XV and Marie Leszczyńska in September 1725.
When Leibniz died, his reputation was in decline. He was remembered for only one book, the "Théodicée", whose supposed central argument Voltaire lampooned in his popular book "Candide", which concludes with the character Candide saying, ""Non liquet"" (it is not clear), a term that was applied during the Roman Republic to a legal verdict of "not proven". Voltaire's depiction of Leibniz's ideas was so influential that many believed it to be an accurate description. Thus Voltaire and his "Candide" bear some of the blame for the lingering failure to appreciate and understand Leibniz's ideas. Leibniz had an ardent disciple, Christian Wolff, whose dogmatic and facile outlook did Leibniz's reputation much harm. He also influenced David Hume who read his "Théodicée" and used some of his ideas. In any event, philosophical fashion was moving away from the rationalism and system building of the 17th century, of which Leibniz had been such an ardent proponent. His work on law, diplomacy, and history was seen as of ephemeral interest. The vastness and richness of his correspondence went unrecognized.