John Locke vs Voltaire

Locke fled to the Netherlands due to suspicion of involvement in the Rye House Plot against King Charles II. During his exile, he wrote his major works and associated with Dutch intellectuals. He returned to England after the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

Locke published his major philosophical work arguing that the human mind at birth is a tabula rasa (blank slate) and that all knowledge comes from sensory experience. This work established empiricism as a foundation of modern philosophy and influenced the Enlightenment.

Locke published his political treatise arguing for natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and the right of revolution against tyranny. The work justified the Glorious Revolution and later profoundly influenced the American Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Locke argued for the separation of church and state and for religious toleration, except for Catholics and atheists. He maintained that civil government should not interfere with matters of conscience. This work became a foundational text for religious freedom in liberal democracies.

After a quarrel with the nobleman Chevalier de Rohan, Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille and then exiled to England. His three-year stay exposed him to English empiricism, constitutional monarchy, and religious toleration, profoundly shaping his philosophical and political views.

Voltaire published letters praising English religious toleration, constitutional monarchy, and scientific progress, implicitly criticizing French absolutism and Catholicism. The book was condemned in France and burned, forcing Voltaire to flee Paris. It helped spread Enlightenment ideas across Europe.

Voltaire published his satirical novel Candide, criticizing Leibnizian optimism and organized religion through the misadventures of its protagonist. The work became a landmark of Enlightenment literature, attacking philosophical optimism, religious hypocrisy, and social injustice with wit and irony.

Voltaire campaigned to overturn the wrongful execution of Jean Calas, a Protestant merchant tortured and executed for allegedly murdering his son to prevent his conversion to Catholicism. Voltaire's writings, including his Treatise on Tolerance, led to Calas's posthumous exoneration in 1765.