326: Candide by Voltaire

With special guest Longinus, P&C drink and review Carlsberg, then discuss Candide as part of their "shortcut to the classics" series. The boys give a short review of his life. Voltaire was a pillar of the Englightenment. In Candide, Voltaire employs biting sarcasim against the idea that this is "the best of all possible worlds." Candide suffers through "one damned thing after another," but continues to have the sunny outlook of his teacher, Pangloss. Everything must be for the best. Eventually Candide meets Martin, another philosopher with a very different view, which allows Voltaire to have some debates between these two life outlooks. Leibnitz believed that this is the best possible world, because if God is good, he must have picked the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire thought this was ridiculous, and wrote Candide as a response.