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Two thinkers, side by side

Life

1646 CE – 1716 CE

Early ModernRationalist

Born Leipzig

This is the best of all possible worlds. He invented calculus, dreamed of a universal language, and believed God chose this universe from an infinite menu.

Voltaire

1694 CE – 1778 CE

EnlightenmentFrench

Born Paris

The most dangerous writer of the eighteenth century. He used wit as a weapon and spent his life fighting ignorance, superstition, and cruelty in their most powerful forms.

Connection

Leibniz satirical target Voltaire — Leibniz's claim that this is the best of all possible worlds is the direct target of Candide. Pangloss is a caricature of Leibnizian optimism.

Shared Ideas

Reason

Shared Places

Paris Paris Berlin

Ideas

Reason Being

Tolerance Reason Progress

Words

“This is the best of all possible worlds.”
— Leibniz

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
— Voltaire

“To hold a pen is to be at war.”
— Voltaire

Key Moments

1646 CE

Born in Leipzig

c. 1675 CE

Develops the Calculus

1714 CE

Writes the Monadology

1716 CE

Death in Hanover

1694 CE

Born in Paris

1734 CE

Letters on England

1759 CE

Candide

1778 CE

Death in Paris

Works

Monadology

Candide

Treatise on Tolerance

Explore

Compare

Two thinkers, side by side

Life

Leibniz

1646 CE – 1716 CE

Early ModernRationalist

Born Leipzig

This is the best of all possible worlds. He invented calculus, dreamed of a universal language, and believed God chose this universe from an infinite menu.

Voltaire

1694 CE – 1778 CE

EnlightenmentFrench

Born Paris

The most dangerous writer of the eighteenth century. He used wit as a weapon and spent his life fighting ignorance, superstition, and cruelty in their most powerful forms.

Connection

Leibniz satirical target Voltaire — Leibniz's claim that this is the best of all possible worlds is the direct target of Candide. Pangloss is a caricature of Leibnizian optimism.

Shared Ideas

Reason

Shared Places

Paris Paris Berlin

Ideas

Reason Being

Tolerance Reason Progress

Words

“This is the best of all possible worlds.”
— Leibniz

“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
— Voltaire

“To hold a pen is to be at war.”
— Voltaire

Key Moments

1646 CE

Born in Leipzig

c. 1675 CE

Develops the Calculus

1714 CE

Writes the Monadology

1716 CE

Death in Hanover

1694 CE

Born in Paris

1734 CE

Letters on England

1759 CE

Candide

1778 CE

Death in Paris

Works

Monadology

Candide

Treatise on Tolerance