Orem Library

"With Candide, Voltaire bumptiously skewered the fashionable misinterpretation of the doctrine of philosophical optimism, unerringly offending kings, scientists, fanaticals, publishers, journalists, and even priests; composed in a mere three days, Candide's capacity to amuse, disgust, and surprise endures today, roughly ninety thousand days later. Theo Cuffe's new translation is invaluable for those English-speaking readers who cannot understand French,...

With Candide-a classic parody of the romantic, coming-of-age story-and the fifteen other stories in this indispensible collection, Voltaire derided the bureaucracies of his day with ruthless wit. His dissections of science, spiritual faith, legal systems, vanity, and love make him the undisputed master of social commentary.

It was 1733 when the poet and philosopher Voltaire met Emilie du Châtelet, a beguilingand marriedaristocrat who would one day popularize Newtons arcane ideas and pave the way for Einsteins theories. In an era when women were rarely permitted any serious schooling, this twenty-seven-year-olds nimble conversation and unusual brilliance led Voltaire, then in his late thirties, to wonder, "Why did you only reach...

"Focuses on the revolution of the intellect that seized Europe between 1600 and 1800 -- a revolution whose lights and shadows are all around us still. This course consolidates and enhances material from two of Professor Kors's earlier courses, The origin of the modern mind and The mind of the enlightenment"--container.

A reference to philosophical knowledge profiles one hundred of the most important figures in philosophy, from Thales of Miletus to W.V.O. Quine, covering 2,500 years of philosophical thought.