While Candide is the one Voltaire book everyone seems to read, it is not necessarily his best (or most interesting) work. I find amusing the entries in his Philosophical Dictionary. All sorts of interesting observations on everything from history to Islam to beauty to corn. Choose any entry that interests you, and comment here on what you find interesting in Voltaire's observations on that topic.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary
While Candide is the one Voltaire book everyone seems to read, it is not necessarily his best (or most interesting) work. I find amusing the entries in his Philosophical Dictionary. All sorts of interesting observations on everything from history to Islam to beauty to corn. Choose any entry that interests you, and comment here on what you find interesting in Voltaire's observations on that topic.
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Beauty--
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting reading some of these terms and how he explains them. It was rather interesting reading about beauty though. He explained it in a way that I hadn't thought of before. If it pleases you and you admire an object it is beautiful. I always thought of something beautiful as something simple and precise.
I also got the impression that he thinks beauty varies from place to place. He explained different areas he was at and discussed how beauty was portrayed in different scenes. Of course in the beginning, he shows beauty is different from person to person.
I had an enjoyable time reading his definitions. Quite an astonishing way of looking at some things that I never would have looked at it in a way he did.
- Kimberly Wiekamp
I read about tears,, they say it is more common for women to weap. I found this very interesting because even in todays society. women are known to weap more than men.. wow history in some ways does not change much
ReplyDeleteMichelle Gunn
I looked at a few other definitions also, but I thought his definitions on equality was intresting. He basicly says, that the reason there should not be any difference from man to man is that if our Earth and land provided absolutely every thing we needed we would never take,enslave,hurt eachother. An animal will try to mate with another animal, unliek humans if they don't succeed or are driven off, they move on to find another. No worries, about what they have lost or remorse, they jsut simply have the freedom to move on and find another mate, or food source or living grounds. He found that example of how free animals can be and thought, that is how nature is... why not man.
ReplyDelete-Tanner Myers
I find the concept of Natural Law fascinating. The idea of an unwritten law of a moral principle common to all people is something that I think is very important and optimistic about about humanity. It seems like there is endless conflict of cultural values, morals and religious beliefs. There are traditions and practices in one country that are offensive and taboo in other countries. People seem to design and develop their own sense of right and wrong, and of justice and law to validate it throughout history. My understanding of Natural Law is that there is a common sense of reason inherent in all individuals. And “reason” is the the key word because there are very good reasons that incest is a taboo in all cultures (according to what I learned in Cultural Anthropology). It defeats the purpose of a family. Dangerous competition and division can be created between father and son, mother and daughter. Inbreeding also causes birth defects and can destroy a family line. I believe that the golden rule also falls into the category of Natural Law with the idea of fairness.
ReplyDeleteYosevu Kilonzo