The Ignorant Philosopher: A New Reader's Edition

In a paradox as daring as any of his satires, Voltaire, the era's most celebrated sage, here proclaims himself the ignorant philosopher. What unfolds is anything but ignorant: a playful, penetrating journey through the limits of human understanding, delivered with the sly humility of a genius who feigns naïveté only to better illuminate the truth.

Published in 1766 under the French title Le Philosophe ignorant, The Ignorant Philosopher is a compact philosophical tale that finds Voltaire in an introspective, questioning mood. Framed as a first person confession by an old wise man who insists he knows almost nothing, this work allows Voltaire to study grand questions of God, knowledge, morality, and the nature of existence with disarming simplicity. The story voice, by turns curious, skeptical, and wry, mimics René Descartes' method of systematic doubt, yet Voltaire's touch is lighter and more ironic. In a series of short chapters or dialogues, the "ignorant" narrator studies what can truly be known about the world and confronts the fallacies of learned philosophers and theologians alike. Voltaire wrote and even printed this work in both French and English to make sure its ideas reached a broad audience, an unusual step that shows the weight he placed on its message. Despite its modest length, the book ranges over basic issues, the existence of God, the problem of evil, the soul's immortality, all through the guise of a wise man professing his own ignorance as a starting point for wisdom.

Alongside The Ignorant Philosopher, the volume provides an afterword tracing Voltaire's intellectual relationships with Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers (including Locke, Diderot, Rousseau and Newton), containing research into his influences and economic attachments, a complete timeline of his life and works, a glossary of Enlightenment terminology, and a detailed index of all of Voltaire's writings. For The Ignorant Philosopher, Voltaire's pointed prose is recast in contemporary English without losing its clarity or movement. The supporting material places The Ignorant Philosopher within Voltaire's broader artistic and philosophical legacy and its later theological reception.