In Candide, a series of unfortunate events happen to the main character, Candide, to demonstrate the absurdity of his mentor's philosophy that he lives in the best world possible. The main tenet of Pangloss' philosophy is that even actions that seem bad or suboptimal have a positive aspect that produces the best of all possible outcomes. In other words, there is no such thing as a suboptimal outcome or bad event. Candide demonstrates the absurdity of this mindset when Pangloss contracts syphilis, and when Candide's benefactor drowns and an earthquake breaks out in Lisbon, concluding with Pangloss doing his best to justify both events through the prism of his philosophy. Imagine contracting syphilis – would it be more appropriate to lament such a disease, or to express the benefits – the European discovery of cocoa and dyes – which followed Christopher Columbus' introduction of the disease to Europe? Pangloss, rather than feeling sorry for himself, speaks of the benefits mentioned above: “…For if Columbus had not caught this disease in an island of America…we would have neither chocolate nor cochineal (Voltaire 15 ). » This quote highlights how enmeshed Pangloss was in his own philosophy, and that he did not see that his own torment – ​​his syphilis – was unnecessary. You see, neither Pangloss nor anyone else had to suffer for anyone to receive chocolate or cochineal; in a better world, Christopher Columbus would not have brought syphilis with him after discovering the New World. However, Pangloss cannot conceive of there being a better world because he likes to emphasize that where there is evil, there is also good – this is what he does by emphasizing how because Columbus went to the New World and contracted syphi. ..... middle of article ...... thinking critically about the events of his life - even just the two examples used in this essay - he would probably discover that it is not not the best of all possible worlds because he is prey to evil and suffering. With this news, Voltaire pointed out that some spend their lives justifying – not rationalizing – world events because these same people are too busy trying to prove a theory rather than developing others that might better correspond to reality. When Candide rejects Pangloss at the end of the story by saying, "Let us cultivate our garden," he rejects Pangloss's philosophy, turns a new leaf, takes charge of his own life and gives it its own meaning, free from Pangloss. influence.Works citedVoltaire. Candid. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1918. Project Gutenberg. Internet. January 11, 2014. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19942/19942-h/19942-h.htm