Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary
⚠️ Content warning
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- Clean text
- Extent:
- ~87,400 words · 415 passages
Cite this work
- APAVoltaire. (n.d.). Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/voltaire/voltaire-s-philosophical-dictionary
- MLAVoltaire. "Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary." SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/voltaire/voltaire-s-philosophical-dictionary.
- ChicagoVoltaire. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/voltaire/voltaire-s-philosophical-dictionary.
What it is about
The Philosophical Dictionary in a single volume: Voltaire's war on superstition, article by article and in alphabetical order.
Context and history
The form is the argument: a dictionary is consulted rather than read through, which made it impossible to refute as a whole and easy to circulate underground. It appeared anonymously in 1764 and was burned in Geneva and in Paris. A note on the edition: the catalogue holds TWO editions of the Philosophical Dictionary — this single volume and another in ten. They are not a duplicate: they are different selections and translations, and the articles do not correspond one to one. The original is French.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
This book does not demand continuous reading; but at whatever place one opens it, one will find matter for reflection. The most useful books are those of which readers themselves compose half; they extend the thoughts of which the germ is presented to them; they correct what seems defective to them, and they fortify by their reflections what seems to them weak. It is only really by enlightened people that this book can be read; the ordinary man is not made for such knowledge; philosophy will never be his lot. Those who say that there are truths which must be hidden from the people, need not be alarmed; the people do not read; they work six days of the week, and on the seventh go to the inn. In a word, philosophical works are made only for philosophers, and every honest man must try to be a philosopher, without pluming himself on being one. This alphabet is extracted from the most estimable works which are not commonly within the reach of the many; and if the author does not always mention the sources of his information, as being well enough known to the learned, he must not be suspected of wishing to take the credit for other people's work, because he himself preserves anonymity, according to this word of the Gospel: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." _CONTENTS_ PAGE PREFACE BY VOLTAIRE 5 ADULTERY 11 ADVOCATE 16 ANCIENTS AND MODERNS 17 ANIMALS 21 ANTIQUITY 24 ARTS 27 ASTROLOGY 29 ATHEISM