Candide, by Voltaire

I was re-reading this the other day, and really felt some similarities in Voltaire's criticism of the theology and philosophy of the day (everything happens for a reason, history is divinely guided, etc.) with the message of Berserk. I have no clue as to whether Miura has read Voltaire, but I just wondered if anyone else ever felt this vibe when reading him.

Yeah, I know this is kind of random, but I haven't posted in a year or so, so give me a break.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
I don't find it to be very similar to the "message" of Berserk, but then again you'd have to define what that "message" is first.
 
Mostly the growth of individualism, and the idea of achieving your own dream. Candide didn't reflect this, so I was juxtaposing Voltaire's thoughts as a whole, I guess, and didn't clarify that. His snide attacks on the Church and the concept of causality just really reminded me of it, in terms of Candide, I suppose.
 

Oltobaz

Cancer no Deathmask
bph said:
Mostly the growth of individualism, and the idea of achieving your own dream.  Candide didn't reflect this, so I was juxtaposing Voltaire's thoughts as a whole, I guess, and didn't clarify that.  His snide attacks on the Church and the concept of causality just really reminded me of it, in terms of Candide, I suppose.

These ideas you refer to, they're very common nowadays, don't you think?
 

Lliugusamui

around the corner
Basically, there are two sides. Bph refers to Voltaire's criticism of Leibniz. The opposite one would be Locke. You could say Griffith represents Leibniz theory of super unavoidable fate and Guts Locke theory of you're born blank and grow by yourself and the people you meet.
Nevertheless, I don't think it's that easy in Berserk. There IS a causality. It has been said. Even the SkullKnight can't escape it. Nobody. Not even Guts. Meanwhile, it's also mentioned that some liberty remains in people deeds. This may appear completly paradoxal and non-senseful-like to some people, not to me. Think about it, causality belongs to Guts as much as Guts belongs to causality. Everyone is a part of the whole. No manicheism. A great universe obscure for the majority. But that's it. People build their own causality which is causing them pain and/or joy ( i'm not saying everything you undergo is the result of your own acts !).

Good afternoon, night or morning, folks !
(And excuse me for my poor english of sunday night !)

See ya ! :beast:
 
I had a quote by Voltaire as my signature for a long time, which for me was very intentionally relating to Berserk.

"If there were no god, it would be necessary to invent him."

Of course relating to the Idea of evil, humans who created god for meaning and all that.
It's clear that Miura has had inspiration for alot of sources, Voltaire could've easily been one of many.
 
Oh, I'm not disagreeing on that front. There definitely IS a causality. My main reason in bringing this up is that I am a double major in Philosophy and History, and I am constantly amazed at how well read Miura must be.

Not to diverge wildly, but I've also noticed a lot of similarities with Immanuel Kant's idea of God and David Hume's idea of causality.

Look at this summary of Kant's belief on the nature of God's existence:

"he has already formulated a central feature of the main objection that he will raise against the ontological argument in the Critique of Pure Reason, namely, that existence is not a predicate. Kant's objection is directed against rationalist accounts that took the judgment “Something exists” to predicate a property — i.e., “existence” — that is included in the concept of that thing. (An example of a property so predicated would be “extension” as a property of the concept “physical object.”) Fundamental to the ontological argument is the view that “existence” is necessarily a property of the concept of God. This then functions as the decisive consideration for the conclusion that God must exist. Against this, Kant argues that in no case — even that of God — can we predicate “existence” to be a property that is included in the concept of any object. He illustrates this by pointing out that the difference between the one-hundred dollars in my pocket and the one hundred dollars I imagine to be in my pocket is not a difference in the concept of “one hundred dollars.” To say that something “exists” — even in the case of God — is not to predicate a property that its concept lacks if the thing did not exist."

I'm not saying that Miura actually read them, or that he was greatly influenced, but it's just really cool to see how Berserk has been influenced by the greater Philosophical works of the early and late Enlightenment.
 
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