Il faut cultiver notre jardin

11

What is the philosophical meaning behind the last line of "Candide"?

Is Voltaire implying that the people of France must be educated and cultivated in order to create a truely great nation...or is he simply asking people to go and tend to the pansies?

Reply 1

Yttrium

1

I'll give you the last paragraph of one of my essays 'cause I'm too lazy to type anything out:

Quelle solution Voltaire donc propose-t-il ? Martin nous la dit : « Travaillons sans raisonner ; c’est le seul moyen de rendre la vie supportable. » Il faut que l’on soit pragmatique, que l’on fasse quelque chose de concret au lieu de philosopher et de trop penser. Comme Candide dit, « Il faut cultiver notre jardin. » L’allusion au jardin d’Éden est bien évidente, mais ce jardin est la fin de l’histoire, pas le début. Cette fin n’est pas du tout utopique : on pourrait deviner que les personnages éprouveront encore des maux, comme firent Adam et Ève. Le jardin, c’est plus simple que le vrai monde ; la cause et l’effet sont évidents ; on cultive la terre et les plantes germent.

On y est plus ou moins heureux - « le travail éloigne de nous trois grands maux : l’ennui, le vice et le besoin » mais la misère existe dans le monde en dehors du jardin. Le message de Voltaire est donc clair : créez, travaillez, éprouvez – « Si nous ne trouvons pas des choses agréables, nous trouverons du moins des choses nouvelles. » Voltaire veut aussi nous faire comprendre que chacun apporte quelque chose à la société (par exemple, Cunégonde est devenue laide mais c’est une excellent patissière). C’est cet ensemble de talents qui rend nos vies « supportables ».

Basically, it's a reference to working instead of philosophising - being useful to society and occupying yourself rather than thinking too much about life, which does little other than depress you and doesn't help society in any useful way.

Reply 2

Che!

OP

11

Brilliant stuff....so Voltaire's saying:"OK, we've done the philosophising, now get off your backsides and do some work! Worrying/thinking about things only makes them worse!"...

Hmm...I can take a lot from that! Thanks!

Reply 3

Yttrium

1

De rien!

(best of luck with la applicación)

Reply 4

Che!

OP

11

Aha! You're an Oxford linguist...
I know you do German and Russian, but what was your interview experience, and what level were the essays you sent in?? Also, is the written test at interview a large part of the decision??

Reply 5

Yttrium

1

che_guevara

Aha! You're an Oxford linguist...
I know you do German and Russian, but what was your interview experience, and what level were the essays you sent in?? Also, is the written test at interview a large part of the decision??

Take a lil' look at this website:

http://www.oxbridge-admissions.org.uk/

My entry is at http://www.oxbridge-admissions.org.uk/profiles/show.php?id=1205 if you're interested - that's got all about my personal interview experience, but it does vary from college to college and, indeed, person to person.

The essays I sent in weren't discussed at all; as far as I understand it, the written test is more important vis-a`-vis the decision.

Reply 6

Che!

OP

11

Yttrium

Take a lil' look at this website:

http://www.oxbridge-admissions.org.uk/

My entry is at http://www.oxbridge-admissions.org.uk/profiles/show.php?id=1205 if you're interested - that's got all about my personal interview experience, but it does vary from college to college and, indeed, person to person.

The essays I sent in weren't discussed at all; as far as I understand it, the written test is more important vis-a`-vis the decision.

Ah thank you, very useful!

I HOPE i get an interview...i'll be so happy if I do!

Thanks for the links....great stuff.

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Il faut cultiver notre jardin

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