How Locke's philosophies are treated in Voltaire's Micromegas.

Voltaire was impressed by the freedom of thought in England. He studied the works of John Locke, and adapted them to fit his own ways of conveying messages to the French revolutionists, such as writing Locke’s ideas and theories into a novel that could be read by anyone. Through his writing, Voltaire attempted to "bring about reform of the social and legal structure that existed at the time". His works spoke out against war, religious intolerance, and political and social injustice. When a man tell him, "Did you know, for example, that as I am speaking with you, there are 100,000 madmen of our species wearing hats, killing 100,000 other animals wearing turbans, or being massacred by them, and that we have used almost surface of the Earth for this purpose since time immemorial?" The Sirian shudders and exclaims, "Oh! Cruel fate!" cried the Sirian with indignation, "who could conceive of this excess of maniacal rage!".

Locke's political theory was founded on social contract theory. He believed that human nature is characterized by reason and tolerance and that human nature allowed people to be selfish. This same theme is seen in the Sirian's interaction with the humans.

Less of an original thinker than many of the Enlightenment thinkers, he is particularly important for challenging the church and promoting the ideas of John Locke and Isaac Newton in France. He came across the work of two of the great thinkers of the 17th century: the greatest natural scientist of them all, Isaac Newton and the philosopher of freedom John Locke.