Optimism and the Best Possible World in Candide by Voltaire

Optimism represents a philosophical position in Candide and during the Enlightenment, a position which claims that despite the errors and appearances of God's creation it remains as good as it could possibly be. It states that despite all of its flaws, the world around us is indeed the best of all possible worlds. Pangloss advocated the truth of this philosophy by affirming, "that things cannot be other than they are, for since everything was made for a purpose, it follows that everything is made for the best purpose” (20).

Pangloss reaffirms this idea after the drowning of James the Anabaptist: Though Candide was upset over his death, "Pangloss stopped him by proving that Lisbon harbour was made on purpose for this Anabaptist to drown there" (33). The only time the word optimism actually appears in the book is when Candide comes upon a disfigured slave.

Cacambo asks for the meaning of the word optimism upon hearing it, and Candide elaborated, "It's the passion for maintaining that all is right when all goes wrong with us" (86).

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The words of Voltaire float through Candide in this explanation, reflecting his view of incredulity in optimism and its desire to find a best possible world. In his essay Notes on Candide, Michael Wood offers an insight into the optimism in Candide. Wood defines the optimism in Candide as “a combination of ignorance and complacency, which asserts that all is well everywhere because I'm doing pretty well in the tiny corner of the world I happen to know" (Wood, 194).

The philosophical witticism identified by Wood Voltaire displays constantly throughout the novel. It is especially noticeable when Pangloss proved, "that in this best of all possible worlds, his lordship's country seat was the most beautiful of mansions and her ladyship the best possible of all ladyships" (20). In Westphalia, Pangloss's tiny corner of the world, his master's mansion was the most beautiful of all. But it was the only one in his tiny corner of the world. Pangloss's identification of his masters mansion as the best, like Candide's identification of Pangloss as the world's best philosopher, raises a question: What exactly is the best of all possible worlds, and why is does it interest Voltaire? As the world expanded for the characters in Candide, so did their definition of the best of all possible worlds. The theory and actual definition of best of all possible worlds did not come from Voltaire. He borrowed the theory from a philosopher named Gottfried Leibniz, and transformed it into Pangloss's canon and Candide's mantra. Edgar Brightman, a theologist, wrote an essay on Leibniz's theory of the best possible world.

Brightman explained how Leibniz never tried to argue the moral perfection of men, but “had recognized human sin, and had declined to blame God for it" (Brightman, 7). Leibniz argued that even the existence of an omnipotent God could not prevent sin. The point made, "then, was not that in the best of possible worlds everything is perfect. He did not even try to say that the world as a whole is perfect. All he meant to assert was that this is the best possible world, or best of compossible worlds" (Brightman, 7). Pangloss, like Leibniz, never attempts to prove that the best possible world is synonymous with a perfect world.

After every hardship he simply explains nothing could have happened in any other way. Voltaire reasserts this idea in every ordeal and comical calamity endured by his characters. In the end, "The best of all possible worlds turns out to be the only possible world; there were never any other options" (Wood, 193). The difference between the philosophy of Leibniz and the one portrayed throughout Candide is the location of the different worlds. Leibniz spoke of Earth as the singular best possible world but the characters in Candide possessed a much more amenable definition. When Candide traveled in search of Cunegonde his definition of the best possible world shifted constantly.

When Pangloss had been hung after Candide had been flogged, Candide asked, "If this is the best of all possible worlds,' he said to himself, 'what can the rest be like?" (37). While Candide might have referenced an entirely separate world, it is more likely that he did not think past his immediate location in the country. Wherever he ventured then became the new best possible world. Another example of this changing definition arrived when Candide, Cunegonde and the old woman depart for the new world. Candide says, "We are going to a different world, and I expect it is the one where all goes well; for I must admit that regrettable things happen in this world of ours, moral and physical acts that one cannot approve of" (48). His malleable definition of the best possible world allows Candide's philosophy of optimism to stay intact, as well as his general naivety which belongs to youth.

As long as his search for the best possible world continued its existence is assured. The best possible world, then, Candide found wherever he found himself. Wood, however, argued one can simplify the definition of the best possible world in Candide past continent, country or region. Regions, countries and continents are worlds in Candide, "But persons are also worlds in Candide, each enclosed in a circle of need and individual experience, and each convinced precisely the opposite of Pangloss's proposition, namely that there is no world worse than his or hers" (Wood, 195). Voltaire provided evidence for both of the points made by Wood through the testimony of his characters. Their individual experiences, documented throughout the novel, expressed their wants as well as the hardships they endured alone. They also created feelings of empathy and sympathy in their audiences. In fact the characters in the novel seem to compete for the 'worst possible life in the best possible world' award, for which the first prize is compassion and reverence. From individual tale to wartime tragedy, however, no story seemed like it belonged in the best of all possible worlds.

"We all dream of a better world" said Brighton, "There is, we are sure in our highest moments, a best that is really possible" (8). This all begs the question: Is a best world a realistic possibility? In Candide the answer is yes. Candide and his faithful Cacambo discovered the best possible world in South America within a city named Eldorado. Voltaire characterized Eldorado as the perfect utopian society, and by doing so created the best of all possible worlds in Candide. Isolated from the sin of the world but containing all its riches Voltaire created his own personal garden of Eden. Candide and Cacambo realized they finally found the best possible world, asking, "What country can this be?' said one to the other. 'It must be unknown to the rest of the world, because everything is so different from what we are used to. It is probably the country where all goes well for there must obviously be some such place" (77).

Through this question, coupled with inevitable departure of Candide from the city of Eldorado, Voltaire delivers his argument against the philosophy of optimism and explains the inherent problem of finding the best of all possible worlds. Once Candide and Cacambo decided to leave Eldorado, Voltaire wrote, “So these happy men decided to be happy no longer" (83). After only a month in Eldorado they took their leave. But if they had truly found the best of all possible worlds and happiness, why would they choose to abandon it? This is the question Voltaire asks and answers throughout Candide. Even though they had found true happiness in the best of all possible worlds, it was not enough to end their search for another. Candide had experienced unknowable pain and unspeakable trauma in what he had believed to be the best of all possible worlds, yet still he ventured back to them.

With Eldorado, Voltaire "seems to be saying that the best of all worlds can be found and enjoyed, but only at the cost of total separation from the turbulent and changing worlds humans have the habit of living and dying in" (Wood, 197). In other words, Candide's constantly shifting definition of the best of all possible worlds Eldorado had made static. Candide's own world, however, remained in motion. His soul still desired more than the best of all possible worlds he had found. The insatiable desire of Candide to remain in optimism and continue his search was precisely the effect of optimism Voltaire hoped to argue against. "And most explicitly, Voltaire's lesson is both that life is not worth much, and that this not much is of the highest value” (Wood, 199). Optimism and its unrelenting need to define the world by cause and effect interrupts the way life should be lived, according to Voltaire.

Life in this world is short with no reason to spend idle time contemplating whether a better world than this one exists. This world remains our only world. Voltaire's philosophy "doesn't require philosophical discussion, indeed requires its absence" (Wood, 199). Voltaire personifies this in the garden of his conclusion. After all of the adventures and reconnections, only the garden remains. "The garden is what there is, beneath and beyond our words; and even philosophy is welcome in the garden, as long as it doesn't insist on having any consequences, or getting in the way of work, the active cultivation of that earth" (Wood, 201). Voltaire uses the image of the garden in the conclusion to represent how life should look. The garden is of the world, but not defined by it. It takes time to understand and to grow, but once it does it transforms into something beautiful. At the end of the story, Pangloss attempts to lure Candide back into philosophical matters as he lured him in the beginning. The older andwiser Candide only replies that though Pangloss is right, "we must go and work in the garden"