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| ==Historical Context== | | ==Historical Context== |
| According to [http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/voltaire3.htm A biography on Voltaire], this is the historical background on Candide. The eighteenth century was a time of new ideas and perspectives. The European intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment changed the way man viewed his world. Reason, not spirituality or intuition, was the road to understanding the world in which he lived. Isaac Newton introduced the notion that the universe was governed by set and discoverable laws. This concept undermined the faith in a personal God. Tolerance of varying religious beliefs was advocated by philosophers such as Voltaire. Churches should not interfere with scientific research. In politics, the authoritarian state, as exemplified by such absolute monarchs as Louis IV of France, came into disrepute. By the end of the 1700's the idea of self-government had resulted in reform in England and revolution in France and America. Europe moved from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. At the close of this century the world had changed dramatically as the advances in science, political democracy, and religious freedom swept away the last vestiges of the Middle Ages. Now the belief that human history was a record of general progress and that the condition of mankind would only get better with each succeeding generation fostered a halo of optimism.
| | In the 18th century new ideas and philosophies were popping up everywhere. An intellectual movement in Europe known as as the Enlightment started to change the way man viewed his world. Also known as the age of reason, was the road to understanding in which Voltaire lived. Isaac Newton introduced the idea that the universe was governed by set and discoverable laws. This concept was detremental to the way people had prevously thought because it undermined the faith in a personal God. It was believed by many philosphers that churches should not interfere with scientific research. By the end of the 1700's, the idea of self-government had changed in England and started a revolution in France and America. Europe moved from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. At the end of this century the world had changed dramatically as the advances in science, political democracy, and religious freedom swept away the last traces of the Middle Ages. |
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| ==Themes== | | ==Themes== |