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Absolute Philosophies In Candide

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Death is one of the only few human experiences that is absolute. Maybe the definitive nature of death is why there is so much folklore dedicated to giving people a life after death, to giving death logical quality. Heaven and hell, Hades and Osiris. Whole worlds, whole existences in fact, dedicated to giving meaning to death, to giving death- and consequently life- a purpose. But, try as they might, these philosophies remain only assumptions, because life and death violate any type of absolute philosophy offered to explain them. In his novel Candide, Voltaire parodies the motif of life and death by resurrecting characters to emphasize that existence defies Pangloss’s theory of radical optimism. When Candide stumbles upon the sickened Pangloss and asks him about his …show more content…

James remains one of Voltaire’s best character, possessing both intelligence and a love for his fellow man. James takes Candide into his home, cures Pangloss of syphilis at “his own expense”, and even tries to rescue the sailor that assaulted him (16). Ironically, James dies while offering a rebuttal to Pangloss’s philosophy, and he dies as a direct result of that philosophy. When Pangloss stops Candide from rescuing James, by arguing that the “Bay of Lisbon had been made on purpose for the Anabaptist to be drowned”, Voltaire openly mocks the hypocrisy of philosophers and their philosophy’s (19). Pangloss is willing to have his own life saved, justifying his action as the “best of all possible worlds”, but others fall into the category that demands passivity. Voltaire uses James’ death to show the hypocrisy that those who believe in radical optimism also have to exhibit, as regular life cannot be confined to the constraints of a single phrase without some manipulation. James the Anabaptist’s death is completely avoidable, and that is why Voltaire uses it to bring light to the logicless nature of Pangloss’s

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