[April 2005 journal entry]
Voltaire appears also to have felt discomfort, even embarrassment, due to having a life advantaged to a degree that separated him from the vast majority of his contemporaries (cf. Neiman, The Problem of Evil: An Alternative History of Philosophy, p. 131). Reading Neiman’s history has enriched my reflections on the ‘1755 Lisbon earthquake’ experiences of life – i.e., seismic experiences that reduce to rubble poorly constructed houses/buildings of ideas, that reveal the (lack of) integrity of individuals far enough removed not to be harmed but near enough not to avoid seeing.