A Comparison of a Hobbsian World and the World of Candide

The Disparity between a Hobbsian World and the World of Candide

In an anarchistic Hobbsian world, man leads a purely selfish

existence, perpetually waging war against his fellow men. In this

world Nature subsists as a playing field for evolution: only the

strong and cunning survives, and even survival results in life that is

"nasty, brutish, and short" (Hobbes). However, with restraints (that

is, government), a Hobbsian world can blossom into society. According

to Hobbes, those who wish to subside from natural anarchy must

implicitly surrender some personal freedom in exchange for societal

order.

Hobbes' philosophies influenced many of his contemporaries and

subsequent intellectuals, including Voltaire, demonstrated in his

satire, Candide. At first glance, Candide seems to be a strict

manifestation of Hobbsian philosophy: an anarchistic world centered

around war, relieved only through the yield of personal freedom for

communal order-Eldorado and the garden. Yet after a thorough

examination of the work, one recognizes that the characters in Candide

are not Hobbsian. Hobbsian man is innately selfish and ambitious

while Voltaire's characters are not. Perhaps some characters in

Candide are driven through their misfortunes as a result of their

avarice; however, this foible can not be ascribed as innately human.

Instead, avarice, in the world of Candide, arises as a byproduct of

the fallibility of man-made institutions (that is, religious and

educational), which are the primary targets of Voltaire's satire.

Thus, the world of Candide, although structured like a Hobbsian world,

contains men that are not Hobbsian. This d...

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...the inability to cooperate. Or perhaps

Voltaire suggests that the world can be controlled more effectively if

the man-made institutions that he is satirizing could be somehow

reorganized. All in all, Voltaire's subtle divergence from strict

Hobbsian philosophy enables him to pose perhaps unanswerable questions

about mankind and our potentials.

Works Cited

Bottiglia, William. "Candide's Garden." Voltaire: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.

Hobbes, Thomas. “Of Religion.” ed.Smith,Lacey Baldwin and Jean Reeder Smith. The Past Speaks. 2nd ed. 1 vol. Lexington: Heath, 1993.

Richter, Peyton. Voltaire. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980.

Tsanoff, Radoslav. Voltaire's Candide and the Critics. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1966.

Voltaire. Candide. New York: Viking Publishers, 1996.