A Comparison of a Hobbsian World and the World of Candide Essay

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... ...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. â€Å"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.