Voltaire and the Spread of Knowledge during the Enlightenment. The Essay

Voltaire and the Spread of Knowledge during the reason. The French Revolution - Essay ExampleThe human being could look at nature and rather than sole(prenominal) seeing God, see how things in nature worked through discovery. This shift is significant as up until this period people had been defined by looking at the world and determining God and His intentions towards human beings rather than looking at it and seeing how human kind could understand how nature worked. This shift in pagan belief systems provided for the development of science and philosophy as a primary means of understanding nature over myth. One of the contributing factors to the development of the Enlightenment philosophies was the emergence of cafes. According to Noble et al the development of the cultural establishment known as the cafe was to the 18th century what the internet is to in advance(p) 21st century information exchange. Profound changes in thinking in relationship to quick-scentedity were exchange d between those who attended the cafe houses in launch to discuss politics and associated friendly topics (507). Francois-Marie Arouet, or Voltaire as he was known, was one of the more well known writers of the Enlightenment who frequented cafes. According to Weinberg and Bealer, Voltaire was known to choose a caffeine addiction and be an avid coffee drinker who frequented cafes and engaged in meaningful discussions about pedantics and philosophy (43). Voltaires contributions to philosophy were numerous, but one of his greatest contributions was in spreading the work of Isaac Newton. Simosan writes about Voltaire as his writing was influential in bringing the familiarity of mathematics into the public sphere. His fascination with the work of Sir Isaac Newton also included a fascination for mathematics and Voltaire was responsible for translating Newtons Principia into French from its original Latin. In translating the work into a vernacular, Voltaire had put into practice the i dea that knowledge should be accessible. One of his novels used the backdrop of Newtons discoveries in science as a way in which to combine mathematics and fiction. The book Micromegas is a work of science fiction in which an expedition is led to Lapland in effect to measure the length of a degree of arc along a line of latitude in order to explore the theory that the Earth flatten at the poles and bulged at the equator as had been suggested by Newton. Although the work included aliens that came and encountered the scientists, this also contributed to the public knowledge about mathematics (Simosan and Voltare 2). The crook of Voltaire in spreading the knowledge of higher level thinkers such as Newton changed an element of the nature of knowledge. Voltaire influenced his immediate society in the short term by contributing to the switching thought and in the long term by recording and spreading knowledge as a public commodity. Newton wrote in Latin which was considered an academi c language, but Voltaire took that knowledge and translated it for the common reader. Education had not advanced to the point that literacy was high, but in translating an academic book into a vernacular language Voltaire changed the influence that Newton could have over culture. Newtons work was not the only way in which he expanded theory about social life and knowledge. He also engaged his own nation, France, with the progressive ideas that were part of the political and economic system in Britain (Noble 507). Voltaire was influenced by his experiences in travel, especially during his emigration into Britain. Just as the cafes had allowed for the exchange of knowledge, Voltaires travel allowed him to expand his ideas about society and its traditions. Voltaire believed British society to be more rational than his own country of