Voltaire - The Sarcastic Thinker of the Enlightenment

Voltaire - The Sarcastic Thinker of the Enlightenment - The Great Thinkers

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Ай бұрын

Voltaire, pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet, was an 18th-century French Enlightenment philosopher, renowned for his wit and criticism of religious fanaticism and intolerance. His thinking was marked by skepticism, humanism, and support for freedom of expression and the separation of Church and State. Author of various works, including the famous "Candide", Voltaire profoundly influenced Western thought, advocating for justice, civil liberty, and societal reform.
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Пікірлер: 133

@deborahdavis6801 26 күн бұрын

He wrote, "If you can make people believe absurdities, you can make them commit atrocities." How relevant today.

@frankburklin1116 23 күн бұрын

Prescient. But human nature never really changes , regardless of the times. Rinse and repeat.

@masonvegas4336 17 күн бұрын

Thx

@peaceleader7315 15 күн бұрын

They will.. but slowly. @@frankburklin1116

@Thrankson 15 күн бұрын

Perhaps there is no such thing as “human nature”. Maybe we just make it up as we go🤷‍♂️

@peaceleader7315 15 күн бұрын

@Thrankson every human being is spongbob square pant .. we absorb things we don't have, nature or instinct.. I guess it was just the surrounding environment as finally decision and conclusion.

@kristenrosales2919 Ай бұрын

"God is a comedian playing for an audience too afraid to laugh".- Voltaire

@mikebarnes5528 23 күн бұрын

In his last years he turned back to God & “adored him”. God has forgiven him for such statements like you quote. Don’t waste your time to bitterness & hate.

@ibeetellingya5683 13 күн бұрын

Great statement, but I can't find where Voltaire wrote that. Where is it from?

@hewitc 12 күн бұрын

Religion sells false hope to frightened people. It's is an extremely lucrative business.

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

@@mikebarnes5528 Where do you see bitterness and hate in this? By the way, Voltaire was a Deist all his life, which meant in the 18C that he believed in a "higher power' but not in any religion, which after decades of study into history and religions, he considered all man-made (and very abusive). So there was "no turning back to God". He never left his won concept of 'God' expressed in a poem in his 20s, Epitre à Uranie or Le Pour et le Contre ("For and Against"). He just deepened it, really.

@bwilderd5082 12 сағат бұрын

@@mikebarnes5528You have no way of knowing that.

@paulnolan4971 10 күн бұрын

Many are destined to reason wrongly; others, not to reason at all; and others, to persecute those who do reason. Voltaire

@MysticChronicles712 Ай бұрын

Every history video feels like a window into the past, bringing ancient tales to life.

@j.dunlop8295 10 күн бұрын

Driver of the French revolution, with writings like "Candide!" Which expressed that "Good people doing nothing, are nothing!"

@nayanendumisra6764 29 күн бұрын

Excellent piece of biography of French philosopher, Voltaire. I loved it. I thank the narrator for his beautiful presentation. ❤🎉😂

@troygaspard6732 Ай бұрын

A feerless man that liberated so many for centuries to come. Many kids still read Candide in school. Viva Voltaire!

@moussesucree Ай бұрын

Vive*

@ivanbarbosa81 10 күн бұрын

He should come back now that intolerance is rising

@donaldwhittaker7987 27 күн бұрын

I've often thought of frank zappa as the voltaire of 20th century music. Ridiculing authority usually gets you some well deserved air play eventually.

@stefanschleps8758 8 күн бұрын

Spot on.😊 Great minds think alike.

@CanadianMemorials 5 күн бұрын

I inherited 14 albums..... seems like an accurate depiction.

@arsartium108 25 күн бұрын

In typical French fashion, Voltaire was very expert at enjoying his senses and devoted an inordinate amount of his thinking to it.

@paulbk7810 27 күн бұрын

Well done. Thank you. ---- If I were to time travel, I would choose the time of Voltaire. And beg to be his valet. To be near historic genius.

@-RONNIE Ай бұрын

He really was a exceptional person that gave a lot to the world

@HistoriadorGrego Ай бұрын

A very influential person in Europe and the Western world

@ivanbarbosa81 10 күн бұрын

The father of the french revolution

@balletshoes Ай бұрын

'Judge a man not by the answers he gives, but by the questions he asks' has to be my favourite quote of his. But I have a very hard time reconciling with the fact that preached liberty and social reform, yet he was so fond of the Ottoman empire - an exceptionally backward and cruel one, not mention it enslaved my nation and destroyed so much cultural heritage. But we all have flaws ...

@chrisgavin2794 20 күн бұрын

What about the Ottoman Empire did he admire?

@johnnwako2488 11 күн бұрын

Which one is "my nation"?

@fredthegredgred9013 29 күн бұрын

Incredible writer, I agree with alot of his philosophy

@BlueNeahno 15 күн бұрын

Seek the unknown,question everything.

@markberman6708 Ай бұрын

One of my favorites....

@donyoung7874 Ай бұрын

When I first read Candide in college, I thought it should've been made into a Monty Python film.

@user-mt2uj8xl2u 29 күн бұрын

I love them already. Nonsense and Latin and then all the other things freedom. It's a beautiful thing

@mylindacasbarro777 2 сағат бұрын

Voltaire was a gift to all who read him. 🙏👑♥️

@paulnolan4971 10 күн бұрын

So long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are active and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of gods, religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men. Voltaire

@TupacMakaveli1996 27 күн бұрын

I liked Voltaire work about god so much. Really interesting work!

@stephenh5865 15 күн бұрын

I agree with his epitaph, he sounds enlightened. I gotta read Candide, and Voltaire philosophy. He's a Soul Man!!!

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

@stephen5865 Zadig is even better, imo. But don't miss esp his Treatise on Tolerance and his Philosophical Dictionary (which is on religion, not philosophy). Those are among the ones that shook everybody's boats!

@etiennevanonselen7949 14 күн бұрын

The tale of Micro Mega, by Voltaire comes to mind...thanks for post...A libertine❤

@capt.bart.roberts4975 27 күн бұрын

Voltaire, is one of my heroes. 😶

@Keef_DGAF Ай бұрын

Voltaire is my spirit animal

@chrisbond7324 Ай бұрын

Read candide i'm just falling in love with it

@abhradip_1 Ай бұрын

Make a video on Swami Vivekananda and his social philosophy

@user-tp7gy4dj4l Ай бұрын

That 'biblical solution to toenail fungus' ad in the middle of a Voltaire video is the sort of thing that Voltaire made fun of.

@christopherhamilton3621 Ай бұрын

That tells us more about what ads you get than it has to do with the video, but interesting nonetheless…😂

@andrewheaney6858 19 күн бұрын

⁠@@christopherhamilton3621 For being the type of person that watches a Voltaire ?

@user-vl4jj5dp2o 13 күн бұрын

I may start considering him an eighteenth century Hunter S Thompson

@paulnolan4971 10 күн бұрын

The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity. Voltaire

@miguelangelous Ай бұрын

Much appreciated 👌🏼

@freak8385 Ай бұрын

Very interesting, I always heared of this man but now I will for sure look for more info on him.

@paulnolan4971 10 күн бұрын

If there’s life on other planets, then the earth is the Universe’s insane asylum. Voltaire

@andrewheaney6858 19 күн бұрын

Great informative and thought provoking video!

@user-gd4ku5se8h 9 күн бұрын

If you're interested, the short Voltaire story Micro Megas is on Doc Sloan's Science Fiction Station channel. Doc himself reads it. There's two versions so click on the longer of the two as the shorter is work/kid safe and is not the complete story.

@SK-re7vo Ай бұрын

Hey! Can you make a series on Indo-europian legends and myths

@mylindacasbarro777 2 сағат бұрын

I write that down! 🙏👑♥️

@kathleensmith644 26 күн бұрын

Nothing changes. Everything is the same.

@hewitc 12 күн бұрын

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good!"

@alexoblivion9295 Ай бұрын

Could we maybe get a video about Zadig?

@Initwithlove 4 күн бұрын

That was really good❤❤ thank you

@christianchauhan23 Ай бұрын

❤🤍💙 all your videos mate👍

@uria3679 Ай бұрын

Please do a Robert Heinline video

@robertmorris9133 17 күн бұрын

Very English humour, brilliant man😊

@starcapture3040 Ай бұрын

Cool you added scholars episodes to your channel, Do Ibn Rushd please

@alfredthevarajah1344 17 күн бұрын

He was one of the contributors to the French constitution.

@MooseBme 15 күн бұрын

!Viva Voltaire!

@pencilsandlight1318 16 күн бұрын

And don’t forget to tend your garden.

@Dishfire101 18 күн бұрын

Hume, Smith, Black all Scottish from the enlightenment ❤

@jonlee557 14 күн бұрын

Maybe the beginning of existentialism as we know it.

@charliemcternan8190 Ай бұрын

That was a very French name

@e.f.4299 14 күн бұрын

@Kodeekat 24 күн бұрын

Isn't he the one who said "I drink (coffee) therefore I am"?

@ivanbarbosa81 10 күн бұрын

A genius

@professorchronicler Ай бұрын

How to make animated videos like you ?

@SeeUinHistory Ай бұрын

We have a professional animation editor on our team 👍

@AngelRiverar-yz7kz Ай бұрын

🌟🏆🎊🎉🎉🏅

@SteveXNYC 27 күн бұрын

Volt here

@user-ov6ny3uc3l 29 күн бұрын

And he was a southpaw. GO LEFTYS!! YOU RULE!!

@Donathon-qx8kq Ай бұрын

I've never had a hero.... this guy is the closest I've ever come....

@gandalfstormcrow8439 Ай бұрын

Jesus Christ died for you.

@jonhappleseed8144 29 күн бұрын

@@gandalfstormcrow8439Jesus was in his 30s with no girlfriend and hung out with a bunch of guys. He also identified openly with at least three identities: the father, the son, and the holy 💩. In private, whatever he identified with can be several of what’s constitutes the LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 IA.

@dustinmiller2775 27 күн бұрын

@@jonhappleseed8144Voltaire said that Christianity would be a forgotten, relic 100 years after his death. Ironically, the French Christian Society set up their headquarters in Voltaire's house, a hundred years after his death.

@paulnolan4971 10 күн бұрын

The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor. Voltaire

@vicgallimore6756 18 күн бұрын

MUST HAVE BEEN RICH, SITTING AROUD ALL DAY THINKING.

@michaeljohnangel6359 Ай бұрын

"I die, loving my God … and detesting superstition." How's that for a blatent contradiction?

@rabokarabekian409 21 күн бұрын

Voltaire was a deist. Not contradictory at all, but certainly provisional.

@Thrankson 14 күн бұрын

Spongebob Squarepants 😂I like it 👍

@hanzohattori5908 Ай бұрын

Next I see Vlad the Impaler ❤❤❤

@leondobre7498 Ай бұрын

I am relative of Vlad,I got a house 60 miles west of his mountain castle 😮😮

@JCornell-gm8cp 19 күн бұрын

Ponder existence more deeply.

@user-kg3qv6en8s Ай бұрын

He was also a freemason

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

Not really. Ben Franklin was, and insisted on making Voltaire an honorary member in a Freemason temple in Paris while Franklin was there, shortly before Voltaire died. But Voltaire accepted reluctantly, out of of respect for Franklin, because he thought secret societies were silly. He felt strongly about sharing his views very publicly! (Luckily for us!)

@diagofuller6958 26 күн бұрын

Humm

@HenryLebensbaumLaw 7 күн бұрын

Nobody's perfect. Bed side conversion

@amyapplegate4356 22 күн бұрын

marquis's? Marquis'.

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

See my correction above!

@jamescurrie2246 28 күн бұрын

He said all he learned at Jesuit school was some Latin and a few other things. That was the sarcasm for which he was known, undoubtedly. I didn't learn anything at all from the Jesuit order. They don't like me.😢 I care a lot, too.

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

It was a quip. But the Jesuits were definitely teaching superstitions!

@PhilipNeuer8855 Ай бұрын

The hog?

@user-ug2yz6vb7p 14 күн бұрын

Ah, my kind of rebel ...the kind will act the part of anarchist and do right by God, the lottery, etc.

@SamWellburnski Ай бұрын

Almost every French name in this video is mispronounced. Marquis sounds like markee. Marquise sounds like markeez. Rousseau is ru-so, not ro-so.

@libertycowboy2495 28 күн бұрын

The narrator is speaking English so don't see the issue. He at least says French words with a French accent 😂

@andrewheaney6858 19 күн бұрын

Is this what you got from this video, what a bizarre take away?

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

@@libertycowboy2495 But mispronounces the words a lot!

@rabokarabekian409 21 күн бұрын

Voltaire was a deist.

@bluetortilla 9 күн бұрын

@paules3437 13 күн бұрын

Is this an AI narrator? Why did he try a French accent at the beginning when he can't manage "Francois Marie Arouet"? Can't pronounce "nom de plume" properly and sounds like he's saying "Using the azaleas" instead of "using this alias." I guess "this" was too difficult for him. If this is a person, why do people try to pronounce names in foreign languages? It always sounds lame. I don't know any country besides the US where this attempt is made. You never heard French announcers striving for an authentic American or British pronunciation for English words.

@SeeUinHistory 13 күн бұрын

It's not AI, our videos are narrated by real people. And this is such a great comment to read because most of the comments on our videos complain that the narrator didn't correctly pronounce the name or the word in the original language - be it French, or Latin, or Greek, or Japanese - as if the narrator always was required to know the pronunciation in all the languages. And you're right, that's just happens in english. Anyway, thanks for commenting and I'll try to work on better narration for future videos - although we'll never please everyone

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

@@SeeUinHistory Calling Emilie du Châtelet a "marquis" (which is a man) instead of a "marquise" was probably the most shocking. And I don't see why it's more difficult to pronouce. But yes, there were plenty of other weird pronunciations. Maybe you can find a true bilingual next time.

@JustNow42 11 күн бұрын

Not a nice guy. Actually in the more scientific books it was his ( for a while) metresse Émilie du Châtelet that stood for the math and physics and never got acknowledged.

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

She was highly acknowledged in her own day. The Germans listed her among the top ten scientists of the age, and Italy unanimously elected her to their Academy of Science in Bologna. It was 19C and early 20th century writers that reduced her to "Voltaire's mistress". But she's a big comeback since. And Voltaire always called her a genius.

@paules3437 13 күн бұрын

Can't pronounce "Rousseau" either... or "Bourgeois" or The Hague (which he pronounces The Hog). 2:09: Here's an idiotic statement in this video: "His defiance stemmed from his outspoken criticisms of the government." Whaaa? His defiance is the SAME thing as his criticisms. His defiance didn't come FROM his criticism. Who writes this drivel? Lemme guess: AI?

@fredcrown-tamir698 10 күн бұрын

So much hatred of fellow humas over religion. No one can even prove that God exist. God exist, only to those who are chosen to know. Matthew 11:27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

@georgesherrill3371 12 күн бұрын

Louis XIV died in 1715, not 1717!

@MegaDonzee 10 күн бұрын

I wonder why he hated superstition but loved god? It doesn't make any sense...

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

It does, if you understand 18th century deism. Find his Philosophical Dictionary and read the article "Theist" or Deist - depending on the translation used. It's great text.

@MegaDonzee 2 күн бұрын

@@gamkal7231 Yes, 18th century thoughts.

@user-jn2wx7db1c 10 күн бұрын

Voltaire is nothing compared to these artists paintings

@catrinamcdermott4211 5 сағат бұрын

But gods are superstition.

@andrewcothran8377 7 күн бұрын

cunning little brain regular Voltaire., thinks hes quite a lover but theres not much there .

@gamkal7231 2 күн бұрын

A hospital nurse gave him one day to live? Women didn't give birth in hospitals in the 18th century (nor in 1694). You mean the midwife. Among lots of other minor errors. (For ex, Voltaire made 3 visits to Frederic the Great before Emilie du Châtelet died and he finally moved there for 3 years. Candide, Micromégas and Zadig were considered very minor works at the time. He didn't even publish Zadig. Some friends did. The Philosophical Dictionary (which is almost entirely on religion, not philosophy), his book on Newton and his Letters On England are the only real major works you mention - among the 200 volumes Oxford just finished printing. Contemporaries considered his history books as pretty major, esp his Age of Louis XIV and his world history. And then esp his "Treatise on Tolerance" and his écrasez l'infame pamphlet war on imposed religion the last decades of his life. Those works are what changed the laws not long after he died. (Also, please pronounce the S at the end of MarquiSE. A Marquis, written without the E and pronounced without the S, is a man. Just trying to help!)