Great Books III Fall 2005

Candide - Voltaire

"Is this the best of all possible worlds?"

Reading/Discussion Schedule

October 28 - Read the entire work; November 2 - Reread the entire work

Reading/Discussion Prompts

October 28

  1. How is suffering meaningful?
  2. "This is the best of all possible worlds" is really just an excuse for not _____.
  3. What do each of the following terms/phrases mean: sufficient reason, universal rule of reason, fortune, things could not have happened otherwise, everything is for the best, the law of conservation of happiness.

 

November 2

We will focus on discussing your weekly writing - what is the point of Candide? Come prepared to discuss what you believe to be Voltaire's point of the work. How does he pull it off?

 

 
Weekly Writing

November 2

Write to the following prompt:

The point of Candide