Choose ONE of the topics below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Choose ONE of the topics below - Essay Example Of the two, perhaps it was Voltaire who did not mince any words when it came to criticizing the work of Rousseau. For example, when he received Rousseau’s The Social Contract, Voltaire wrote a letter to Rousseau in which he notes, â€Å"Never was such a cleverness used in the design of making us all stupid. One longs, in reading your book, to walk on all fours. But as I have lost that habit for more than sixty years, I feel unhappily the impossibility of resuming it (Nosotro, 2007, Pg. 1)†. These words also form the basis of their disagreement since Voltaire had very different ideas about society and government as compared to the very democratic ideals of Rousseau. The high society and the aristocratic manners of Voltaire would certainly put him at odds with Rousseau who had a lower class beginning and could only find patrons to help him in paying for his living expenses as he continued to write and give the world philosophical ideas. However, they were both forced into exile largely through the force of their own ideas. Voltaire frank criticism, as exemplified by what he told Rousseau about his book, angered many French aristocrats and he was eventually forced into exile to England. On the other hand, Rousseau’s ideas were widely rejected by the French and he too had to spend some time in Switzerland and then England. In terms of ideas, Voltaire emphasized individual tolerance and a person’s right to be able to express him/herself freely. The religious and personal freedoms given by the English government were much respected by him and he wanted to change French society to bring them closer to the freedoms enjoyed by the English. Voltaire was also against the church since he believed the message of the church was one of intolerance. Duffy (2008) notes this as an interesting dichotomy since Voltaire was disdainful of religion itself but supported religious tolerance. It seems that blind faith was unacceptable to Voltaire since he