Voltaire o la morte di un patriarca

The article examines Voltaire's hypochondriac obsession with death and illness, as can be seen in his “Correspondence” throughout his entire life. His death is described by his secretary Wagnière in “Mémoires sur Voltaire” and by Condorcet in “Vie de Voltaire”. As regards Voltaire's attitude towards death in the last years of his life, he is questioning the philosophical meaning of death where the individual disappears and only the species survives. Voltaire values “philosophical death” and believes that philosophy can help us to accept life and death.