Experts from Australia, the United States, Brazil and Canada are among participants at a series of debates organised by the ancient university's Voltaire Foundation and the Maison Francaise d’Oxford.
And they insist that despite being two and a half centuries old "Candide" -- which tells the story of a young man's philosophical journey -- has a message which can resonate in our troubled post-September 11 times.
The satire was written just after the devastating 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which killed tens of thousands of people, and amid the Seven Years War which was ripping Europe apart.
"I often say to my students of 19 or 20 years of age, that 9/11 is as close as we would get to the Lisbon earthquake: what people had taken for granted is suddenly not certain anymore, suddenly, there's chaos."
Organisers also justified the choice of Oxford by the huge popularity of Candide in Britain -- three English translations were published in the same year it was published in French, in Geneva.
The French satire -- translated into English variously as "Candide," "All for the Best," or "The Optimist" -- is even mentioned in Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," which was also published in 1759.
"Voltaire wrote enthusiastically about England, so I think he would have approved of this major international celebration of his work taking place on English soil," said Voltaire Foundation director Professor Nicholas Cronk.
The internatonal conference opened on Thursday and continues this weekend.
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