Philosophical Dictionary: A New Reader's Edition

Ostensibly a simple dictionary, Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique began life in 1764 as a clandestine "pocket" book of alphabetized articles, but by the 1770s it had grown into a complete manifesto of the Enlightenment. In this work, published in English under titles like Philosophical Dictionary or The Philosophical Pocket Dictionary, Voltaire takes on a dazzling array of topics from Abraham to Zeal with his trademark blend of erudition, irony, and ire. Each entry is a short essay that might begin as a definition or anecdote, then slyly morph into a critique of religious dogma, political power, or social folly. For example, under "Faith" or "Religion," Voltaire coolly dismantles superstition and fanaticism, advocating for tolerance and reason in their stead; under "Torture" or "Intolerance," he recounts horrors that demand reform. The publication setting was fraught with danger: this work was so incendiary that it was initially released anonymously and outside France. It was immediately denounced by the authorities, banned by the Paris Parlement and ordered to be publicly burned in Geneva and Bern, yet copies proliferated, hidden in coat pockets and behind innocuous covers, tantalizing the curious with forbidden fruit.

Alongside Philosophical Dictionary, the volume provides an afterword tracing Voltaire's intellectual relationships with Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers (including Locke, Diderot, Rousseau and Newton), containing research into his influences and economic attachments, a complete timeline of his life and works, a glossary of Enlightenment terminology, and a detailed index of all of Voltaire's writings. In Philosophical Dictionary, Voltaire's satire is presented in contemporary English with attention to the clarity and movement of the original. The accompanying scholarship connects Philosophical Dictionary with Voltaire's broader artistic, philosophical, and theological reception.