Notes on how to take Candide seriously

Abstract

The present article intends at shedding some light on how Voltaire's Candide enacts its criticism of the Leibnizian system. In order to do that, we shall follow different paths.  Firstly, we will consider a brief history of the problem of evil, especially the Bayle and Leibniz debate on it. Secondly, we shall briefly refer to Voltaire's metaphysics of evil. The almost forty years he dedicated to the question are not monotonous, they are constituted of variations, approximations and criticisms on both Alexander Pope and Leibniz. Thirdly, we shall consider some examples of caricatures of Leibniz's philosophy in Candide in order to show that they bear real criticism on the philosophical optimism.