Work · Empiricism, Enlightenment & Liberalism
Philosophical Letters (Letters on the English)
Praise of England, Locke and Newton – and a letter against Pascal.
Introduction
Voltaire drew on his stay in England in 1726–1728 for these letters. They appeared first in English translation in London in 1733, as “Letters Concerning the English Nation”, and in French in 1734. The letters move from the Quakers and other religious groups through Parliament, trade and smallpox inoculation to Bacon, Locke and Newton, and on to English theatre and the academies; the French edition ends with a letter criticising Pascal’s “Pensées”. The comparison with France was obvious to every reader. The Parlement of Paris had the French edition burned in 1734, and Voltaire withdrew to Cirey, the château of Émilie du Châtelet.
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Connections
Builds on
- Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Principia)1687 · Isaac Newton
- An Essay Concerning Human Understanding1689 · John Locke
Criticizes
- Pensées1670 · Blaise Pascal
More works by Voltaire
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