Treatise on Tolerance
focused less on freedom of speech and more on
toleration, particularly religious toleration, which is nevertheless linked to freedom of
speech. This work was published in 1763 and called for religious tolerance while
condemning religious fanaticism. Voltaire started this work with the story of Jean Calas.
Calas was a Huguenot living in Toulouse in France. Protestantism, however, was
officially illegal in France. Calas’ son hanged himself due to a series of unfortunate
events outside of his father’s control. When the son was discovered, however, a rumor
spread that claimed Calas had killed his son (with the help of a few others) because he
was going to convert to Catholicism. The son was turned into a Catholic martyr, and the
father was put to death by the state. Voltaire’s
Treatise on Tolerance
defended Calas, and
eventually helped get the conviction overturned; however, Voltaire’s ultimate goal in this
work was to condemn religious fanaticism. As this particular situation played out, he was
83
Ibid, 51.
34
able to condemn the superstitions of the Catholics as well as the harsh punishment that
was imposed notwithstanding the lack of evidence. If Calas actually had killed his son for
converting to Catholicism, Voltaire would have condemned Protestant intolerance; in
either case, his arguments would have been similar. According to Voltaire, “Toleration,
in fine, never led to civil war; intolerance has covered the earth with carnage;”
furthermore, he gave the example of Carolina, where “liberty gave rise to no disorder.”
84
Another argument Voltaire put forward in this work was the common claim that
giving some freedoms prevents more extreme actions by the public. He said, “it seems to
me an illogical piece of reasoning to say: ‘These men rebelled when I treated them ill,
therefore they will rebel when I treat them well’”; he then invited high-ranking
government officials “to reflect carefully whether one really has ground to fear that
kindness will lead to the same revolts as cruelty.”
85
For Voltaire, common sense seemed
to dictate that being tolerant of people with differing views would deter them from
retaliating against the state in the future. Voltaire added, “do I propose, then, that every
citizen shall be free to follow his own reason, and believe whatever this enlightened or
deluded reason shall dictate to him? Certainly, provided he does not disturb the public
order.”
86
The “enlightened or deluded” seems similar to the Quaker of Voltaire’s
Letters
.
One cannot know whether the person is enlightened or simply foolish, but the person
must be allowed to speak. Furthermore, Voltaire believed that everyone should be
allowed to follow his own reason, as long as he did not disturb the public order. If reason
led someone to speak or write on some subject, that person should be allowed to do so
84
Voltaire,
Toleration and Other Essays
, trans. Joseph McCabe (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1912), 25,
http://lf-oll.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/349/0029_Bk.pdf
.
85
Ibid, 19.
86
Ibid, 54.
35
without fear of censorship. Even though primarily a work on tolerance, this treatise also
defended freedom of speech.
The work that was the culmination of all of Voltaire’s learning and writing was
his
Philosophical Dictionary
, published first in 1764 and revised in following years. He
used this work to criticize various institutions, and he employed much of the irony and
wit that he was known for. The idea for the
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |