Question

An essay by this thinker imagines the “obstinate pride” needed to say that there are “nine hundred million little ants” on earth but “only my anthill is beloved of God.” (10[2])Mikhail Bakunin’s God and the State uses the word “abolish” in an inversion of a quote by this thinker. This thinker’s critiques of dogmatic authority include the claim that “superstition sets the world in flame,” (-5[1])the plea to “crush the infamous,” (10[1])and his (10[2])Treatise (10[1])on Tolerance. (10[2]-5[1])This thinker (10[1])wrote that “if God did not exist, (10[2])it would be (10[1])necessary to invent him.” (10[2])This author of Letters on the English (10[1])and (10[1])the (10[1])Philosophical Dictionary created a character (10[1])who rationalizes his (10[1])syphilis and the Lisbon (10[1])earthquake. (10[6]-5[1])For (10[2])10 (10[1])points, (10[2])what author (10[1])parodied (10[1])Leibniz’s (10[1])Theodicy (10[2])via the character (10[1])Pangloss in his novel Candide? (10[1])■END■ (10[2])

ANSWER: Voltaire [or François-Marie d’Arouet] (Bakunin wrote that “If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him.”)
<TM, Philosophy>
= Average correct buzz position

Summary

Lower Mid-Atlantic2025-02-01Y6100%0%0%97.83
Midwest2025-02-01Y6100%0%0%91.00
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UK2025-02-01Y10100%0%0%99.20
Upper Mid-Atlantic2025-02-01Y8100%0%25%109.38

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PlayerTeamOpponentBuzz PositionValue
Ivan StanisavljevicDukeLiberty C2910
Andrew MessersmithBrandeis BBrown A2910
Audrey ChoHaverford AJohns Hopkins A64-5
Omer KeskinOxford AImperial A7010
Aden SunChicago BWashU B7210
Frederick Rivas-GiorgiYale ACornell B7210
Jakob MyersIndiana AChicago A7310
Charles HangWashU AMissouri7510
Ryan FangStanford BPurdue75-5
Seraphina Charlotte FooCambridge ALSE7510
Sam McNameeNotre Dame ANorthwestern B7710
Joseph ChambersVirginia AUNC B8410
Elliot CosnettOxford BSouthampton A8410
Ian McDowellCambridge CSheffield8710
Akshar GoyalIllinois AIllinois B9110
Jack RadoColumbia BMaryland B9110
Michael KearneyHarvard AMIT A9810
Louis CameronCambridge EWarwick B9910
Anne FjeldAlbertaUW A10010
Ryan RosenbergNYU APenn B10510
Shiv SeshanCambridge BManchester10810
Noah ChinVirginia Tech AWake Forest11210
Eren MicheletBUUMass Boston11310
Max NealHarvard BTufts A11310
Roan DowlingIowaNorthwestern A11310
John ChenUBCUW B11310
Sam MacchiVassar ANYU B11310
Isaac MammelMaryland APenn A113-5
Aum MundheRutgers AColumbia C11310
Chris YooWilliam & MarySouth Carolina11410
Antoni KluzowskiWarwick ACambridge D11410
Max HodesChicago DIllinois C11510
Max KoldaNotre Dame BGeorgetown B11610
Michael WuSouthampton BBristol11610
Jacob Hardin-BernhardtNYU CImperial B11810
Aidan JonesLiberty AUNC C11910
Trenton BurgessIndiana BMissoui S&T12010
Hamish CampbellDurhamOxford C12110
Sinecio MoralesJohns Hopkins AHaverford A12110
Davis JohnsonPurdueStanford B12410
Nick SmemoeUNC DLiberty B12910
Sasha WertimeHaverford BGeorge Washington B13010
Hannah NieuwveldPenn AMaryland A13010