Voltaire’s Life and Thought
Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet on November 21, 1694, in Paris, France, remains one of the most renowned figures of the Enlightenment, a period that profoundly shaped European intellectual and cultural history. He was the youngest of five children in a bourgeois family, though only he and two of his siblings survived childhood. His father, François Arouet, worked as a notary, and his mother, Marie Marguerite Daumard, descended from a minor noble family. Educated at the Jesuit-run Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris, Voltaire demonstrated brilliant intellectual abilities, particularly in literature and language. However, his irreverent wit and criticism often brought him into conflict with authority, foreshadowing a life marked by both literary achievement and personal controversy.
Voltaire came of age during the Enlightenment, an era spanning the late 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason, science, and individual rights over tradition and religious dogma. Rooted in the Scientific Revolution and the work of scholars like Isaac Newton and John Locke, the Enlightenment challenged established institutions and conventions, advocating instead for liberty, tolerance, and progress. Thinkers of this period—philosophes, as they were known in France—sought to question absolute monarchy, feudal hierarchies, and religious orthodoxy while promoting freedom of thought and inquiry. The Enlightenment set the intellectual groundwork for significant advancements in political theory, science, education, and human rights, greatly influencing events such as the American and French Revolutions.
Voltaire’s life reflected and contributed to the spirit of this age. Rejecting his father’s wishes for him to enter the legal profession, Voltaire pursued literature and quickly developed a reputation as a satirist. His sharp pen and clever verses earned him favour in some circles and ire in others. His early writings—such as lewd poems targeting the regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans—landed him in the Bastille in 1717. Upon his release, he adopted the pen name Voltaire, a possible anagram of “Arouet, the younger,” marking a symbolic break from his past.
Voltaire’s first significant literary success was the tragedy Oedipe (1718), which established him as a major playwright. Nevertheless, controversy followed him throughout his life. After a quarrel with a nobleman in 1726, he was exiled to England. This three-year period was pivotal, exposing him to English constitutional monarchy, religious freedom, and influential intellectual currents such as empiricism and deism. His admiration for England’s political and intellectual climate was evident in Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733), a work that critiqued French absolutism and the Catholic Church while celebrating English freedoms. Not surprisingly, it was banned in France, and Voltaire was forced to flee.
During the following decades, Voltaire became prolific, producing plays, novels, essays, histories, and letters. His works were often critical of power and oppressive institutions, aiming at fostering a more enlightened society. Despite frequently clashing with authorities, he cultivated relationships with powerful figures, most notably Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia. At the same time, he repeatedly faced censorship, fines, and exile for defying societal norms and undermining established authority. Remarkably, these challenges seemed only to motivate him further.
The intellectual environment Voltaire navigated was also fraught with tension. While the Enlightenment birthed ideals of progress and tolerance, it was not universally celebrated. The Ancien Régime institutions—monarchies, aristocracies, and churches—often resisted Enlightenment principles, perceiving them as threats to social and political stability. This led to frequent arrests and censorship of Enlightenment figures, including Voltaire. Nevertheless, his exceptional intellect and charm, paired with his relentless advocacy for freedom of expression, enabled him to maneuver through these difficulties with remarkable dexterity.
Voltaire spent the later years of his life largely at his estate in Ferney, near the French-Swiss border. There, he corresponded with intellectuals across Europe, hosting visitors and writing extensively. Ferney became a hub of Enlightenment thought, where Voltaire entertained visitors from all over Europe, demonstrating his continued influence on contemporary debates. While Voltaire enjoyed a degree of safety at Ferney, many of his works continued to be published anonymously or outside France to bypass censorship.
The Enlightenment era was deeply influenced by broader historical forces that shaped Voltaire’s lifetime. The 17th century had seen intense global change, ranging from the decline of feudal systems to the rise of early capitalist economies and colonial expansion. The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648), though preceding Voltaire, greatly influenced European attitudes toward religion and governance, fostering a rise in skepticism and calls for reform. Additionally, the Scientific Revolution had transformed European intellectual life, demonstrating that natural phenomena could be understood through observation and reason rather than reliance on religious doctrine.
Religious conflict was another dominant feature of Voltaire’s period. France was a country profoundly shaped by Catholicism, but the violent Wars of Religion in the 16th and 17th centuries had left a legacy of division. Even in Voltaire’s time, religious minorities such as Protestants and Jews faced persecution. The Catholic Church remained a powerful institution, entwined with the monarchy and deeply resistant to Enlightenment ideals. Voltaire’s challenges to religious dogma placed him in direct conflict with these powers, though his attacks were often articulated with a wit and irony that made them particularly poignant and enduring.
Voltaire’s lifetime also coincided with significant developments in political thought. Absolutism reigned in France under monarchs such as Louis XIV and Louis XV, but ideals of constitutionalism gained traction, bolstered by the Glorious Revolution in England and the philosophies of John Locke. The seeds of revolutionary change were being sown, and Voltaire’s writings contributed to the growing discontent with authoritarian rule, even if he himself favoured a more moderate, enlightened monarchy over radical upheaval.
Voltaire died on May 30, 1778, in Paris, shortly after returning to the city in triumph despite decades of tensions with authorities. Immensely popular in his final years, he was celebrated as a champion of enlightenment and progress. His ceaseless advocacy for justice, tolerance, and freedom of expression helped define the intellectual legacy of the Enlightenment and established him as a foundational figure of modern Western thought. Though his philosophical ideas are not addressed here, Voltaire’s life and context reflect the key currents of his era and highlight the challenges and achievements of this transformative period.
Key Ideas in Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Cosmopolitanism and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Criticism Of War and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Critique Of Aristocracy and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Critique Of Optimism and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Deism and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Education And Knowledge and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Enlightened Despotism and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Ethics And Morality and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Freedom Of Speech and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Human Rights and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Rationalism and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Religious Tolerance and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Separation Of Church And State and Voltaire’s Philosophy
- Skepticism About Absolute Truth and Voltaire’s Philosophy