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Loading... A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary (Oxford World's Classics) (original 1764; edition 2011)by Voltaire, Nicholas Cronk (Contributor), John Fletcher (Translator)
Work InformationA Pocket Philosophical Dictionary (Oxford World's Classics) by Voltaire (1764)
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. ![]() ![]() So, I got to the end of the substantive part of this book, which is every bit as wonderful and satirical and Enlightenment-y as you'd expect; I read the last few lines of the last entry (on Virtue), made to put it down, but then noticed the Appendix which began on the next page: 'Two Portraits of Voltaire in 1764', contemporary accounts by two men of letters (John Morgan and James Boswell) of their encounters with the 70-year-old Voltaire shortly after the publication of this book. These are hidden gems: I can't for the life of me see why their presence is not more obviously indicated on the cover. I found the end of Boswell's letter, in which he describes Voltaire offering an impassioned account of the nature of his faith, actually quite moving. So anyone else reading this great little book, don't accidentally miss the Appendix! no reviews | add a review
Here is the only available English translation of one of the landmarks of European Enlightenment thought, Voltaire's 1764 edition of A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary. Highly entertaining and still highly relevant, the "dictionary" actually consists of a sequence of short essays, arranged in alphabetical order, covering everything from Apocalypse and Atheism to Tolerance and Tyranny. The unifying thread of these articles is Voltaire's vitriolic critique of established religion: ridicule of established dogma, attacks on superstition, and pleas for toleration. Witty and ironic, this is very much a work of combat, part of Voltaire's high-profile political struggle in the 1760s to defend the victims of religious and political intolerance. This new translation is based on the definitive French edition of 1764 that provoked widespread controversy and condemnation. In his Introduction Nicholas Cronk considers the nature of Voltaire's engagement in political debate, literary style, contemporary reaction, the lasting impact of the work and its continuing relevance to debates on religious intolerance. The volume also includes an up-to-date bibliography and full explanatory notes. - Publisher. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)194Philosophy and Psychology Modern western philosophy French philosophersLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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