The human condition in the eighteenth century

a comparative analysis between Voltaire and Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of the human being in the works of Voltaire and Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, two contemporary authors of 18th-century France who represent opposing intellectual perspectives: the Enlightenment and the Catholic tradition. The study is grounded in the historical context of the Ancien Régime, marked by social, political, and religious tensions intensified by Enlightenment critiques of the Church and absolute monarchy. Based on Voltaire’s Candide, the analysis identifies a non-essentialist view of the human being, understood as shaped by experience, suffering, and historical circumstances, whose ethical response relies on practical action and individual responsibility. In contrast, the examination of Montfort’s Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin reveals a theological and essentialist perspective, in which the human being is seen as a creature dependent on divine grace, marked by sin and oriented toward salvation through devotion and Marian mediation. Finally, the study demonstrates that, despite their differences, both authors recognize human fragility and propose distinct ways of addressing suffering and the human condition: rational and practical action in Voltaire, and faith and submission to divine will in Montfort.