Where did voltaire live

At the center of his work was a new conception of philosophy and the philosopher that in several crucial respects influenced the modern concept of each. Yet in other ways Voltaire was not a philosopher at all in the modern sense of the term. He wrote as many plays, stories, and poems as patently philosophical tracts, and he in fact directed many of his critical writings against the philosophical pretensions of recognized philosophers such as Leibniz, Malebranche, and Descartes.

He was, however, a vigorous defender of a conception of natural science that served in his mind as the antidote to vain and fruitless philosophical investigation. In clarifying this new distinction between science and philosophy, and especially in fighting vigorously for it in public campaigns directed against the perceived enemies of fanaticism and superstition, Voltaire pointed modern philosophy down several paths that it subsequently followed.

Voltaire only began to identify himself with philosophy and the philosophe identity during middle age. His work Lettres philosophiques , published in when he was forty years old, was the key turning point in this transformation.

Voltaire known for

His early orientation toward literature and libertine sociability, however, shaped his philosophical identity in crucial ways. But in each case, he ended up abandoning his posts, sometimes amidst scandal. Escaping from the burdens of these public obligations, Voltaire would retreat into the libertine sociability of Paris. It was here in the s, during the culturally vibrant period of the Regency government between the reigns of Louis XIV and XV — , that Voltaire established one dimension of his identity.

His wit and congeniality were legendary even as a youth, so he had few difficulties establishing himself as a popular figure in Regency literary circles.

Voltaire famous works

He also learned how to play the patronage game so important to those with writerly ambitions. His literary debut occurred in with the publication of his Oedipe , a reworking of the ancient tragedy that evoked the French classicism of Racine and Corneille. Its published title page also announced the new pen name that Voltaire would ever after deploy.

During the Regency, Voltaire circulated widely in elite circles such as those that congregated at Sceaux, but he also cultivated more illicit and libertine sociability as well.