Self, Love, God, and Nature
Among other French intellectuals of the early eighteenth century, Voltaire stood out for his playful yet thoughtful approach to greed and lust. In his Philosophical Letters, published in 1734, he repeated the standard condemnation of selfishness as a source of disorder, but described self-interest as happily benevolent.36 After all, if men were wicked, they could hardly be trusted to govern themselves.37 ‘‘What is virtue?'' he asked rhetorically.
Religious orthodoxy replied, ‘‘Doing God's will''; his own reply was both secular and specific: ‘‘Doing good to one's neighbor.''38 The two answers were not inconsistent, but the latter required no obeisance to a spiritual master.As a young man, Voltaire had fallen in love with a woman of whom his family did not approve. His father promptly applied for a lettre de cachet authorizing his son's imprisonment or exile to the West Indies.39 The threat sufficed in that instance, but later disagreements with the King resulted in brief stays in jail. Such punishments left Voltaire's good spirits untouched, and in his old age he putatively enjoyed a delightful love affair with his niece. Perhaps this helps explain why he believed that sensual pleasure was necessary, rather than inimical to economic and demographic success. As the epigraph to this chapter shows, he expressed his views in mischievously phallic terms.