Leibniz's Theory In Candide

Candide, written in classic 18th century writing style overfloweth with fantastic incidents and ubiquitous vicissitudes, more commonly put as coincidences. The story is full of them, with many of the plot points relying on the improbable coincidences to move the story forward. The book revolves around one central theory, originally composed by Leibniz, a German mathematician and philosopher who is so prominent in the world of both mathematics and philosophy, having developed differential and integral calculus independently of Isaac Newton, and the creator of the optimism theory. Leibniz’s theory consisted of two main ideas, that God’s actions are all for good, that he is an all good being. The second part of his theory states that God created the world as best as could be, that this is the best
of all possible worlds. All actions and events were all destined to happen, all as one part of God’s big plan. The book Candide is Voltaire's interpretation of how the actuality of this theory is absolutely ridiculous.
The vast amount of ubiquitous vicissitudes that happen are a perfect representation of how Candide was written in 18th century style. A good example of how nonsensical these coincidences were is how many times Candide just happens to run into Pangloss, over and over again. First after leaving his illegitimate uncle's castle, then he is lost again, then found again. Eventually it is said that Pangloss was hanged, and after that information is known, Candide runs into and starts traveling with a prostitute who coincidentally happens to be the exact prostitute who gave Pangloss syphilis. Then Candide finds Pangloss again, after he is meant to be dead, in a Turkish chain gang. This giant string of coincidences all happening in real life would be practically impossible, but happens over and over again in this book. Another fantastic incident can be found in Candide’s treasure. Candide collects a loot of gold and jewels in Eldorado, where such treasures are common, therefore not amazingly, or at all valuable, for the purposes of trading the treasure with Don Fernando, the governor of Buenos Aires for Cunégonde who married Don Fernando for financial reasons. However, a merchant named Vanderdendur steals much of Candide’s fortune, dampening his optimism somewhat. Frustrated, Candide sails off to France, but on the way there, he recovers part of his fortune when he happens upon a Spanish captain who had sunk Vanderdendur’s ship. These ubiquitous vicissitudes are an example of 18th century writing and how whimsical a story Candide is. Voltaire also uses these coincidences to show how ridiculous the world would have to be in order to allow Leibniz’s theory.
Leibniz’s theory is that every action and reaction of life on Earth is a pre-set action, all serving to fulfill God’s one big plan for the world.
This also includes that God is an all good being. God’s intentions are all good, and his plan, which may contain certain hardships, is all for the good. Leibniz believed that any deviation from the plan would upset the whole universe and through everything of course. In answer to his critics, Leibniz would state that those who question God’s big plan only did so because they don’t understand what it really is. This view on the world is injected into Candide through Pangloss. Pangloss’s optimistic theory matches perfectly with Leibniz's, and is mocked for having such belief. He his constantly put in dire circumstances, and goes through some pretty terrible stuff throughout his life, but still thinks that all the pain and misery is all part of God’s plan, and inevitably, good for him. Leibniz’s theory of everything already destined to happen, that there is no need to worry about anything because it is all destined for good in the future is exploited and made fun of throughout the book, showing Voltaire true feeling about said
theory.
It is easily known that Voltaire was not a fan of Leibniz’s work in philosophy. The whole book is one big mockery of Leibniz and his optimism theory. Voltaire mocks Leibniz by depicting him as Pangloss. Beating him up, both physically putting the character through hardship, even making him acquire syphilis, having him lose an eye and an ear, and turning his optimism theory into a mockery of itself. Voltaire really took a disliking to Leibniz, writing:
Frankly, Leibnitz has only confused the sciences. His sufficient reason, his continuity, his plenum (all-embracing whole of the universe), his monads, are the germs of confusion of which M. Wolff has methodically hatched fifteen volumes in quarto which will put the German heads more than ever in the habit of reading much and understanding little.( Siècle de Louis XIV) "The best of all possible worlds" becomes a grim joke. The belief that everything forms a chain and that each individual must keep his place in that chain is dismissed as complete nonsense. Voltaire also rejects the thought that the small acts of evil contribute to the general good, that human events are wholly, the God’s presence is evident in all occurrences, and that harmony is a pre-established condition.
Leibniz's theory, that the universe and everything in it, is all predetermined I disagree with. All the choices made throughout each day are all in flux, with a wide range of factors that come into account when those decisions actually get made. To state that everything is already decided to happen in a certain way is to disregard the personal through and actions that have created everything in the world, for if everything is predetermined, living isn't really living.