Dictionnaire philosophique

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The Dictionnaire philosophique (Philosophical Dictionary) is an encyclopedic dictionary published by Voltaire in 1764. The alphabetically-arranged articles often criticize the Catholic Church and other institutions. The first edition, released in June of 1764, went by the named of Dictionnaire Philosphique Portatif. It was 344 pages and consisted of 73 articles. Later versions were expanded into two volumes consisting of 120 articles.^[1] The first editions were published anonymously in Geneva by Gabriel Grasset. Due to the volatile content of the Dictionary, Voltaire chose Grasset over his usual publisher to ensure his own anonymity.^[2] The Philosophical Dictionary was a lifelong project for Voltaire. It represents the culmination of his views on Christianity, God, morality, and other subjects.

Contents 1 History and Origins 2 Structure 3 Themes 4 Influences 5 Reception 6 References 7 Bibliography 8 External links

[edit] History and Origins

The Enlightenment saw the creation of a new way of structuring information in books. The first work to employ this method was the Dicitonnaire historique et critique (1697) by Pierre Bayle, where the information is ordered in alphabetical order. Other important works followed using similar structuring such as the Encyclopedie by Diderot and D’Alembert. Having witnessed first hand the popularity and many advantages of this form, Voltaire used this information while preparing the Philosophical Dictionary in 1752 although it was never completed until 1764.^[3]

Voltaire having had the opportunity to write his Dictionary at a later point in time saw that there were certain problems with previous Dictionaries, they were all of considerable length and were thus very expensive and unreachable for much of the population. Voltaire sought to create a text which would fit in ones pocket and be affordable because “revolutionary material must be small enough for people to carry with them,”^[4] what he created is a text which educated and amused at the same time.^[5]

Voltaire’s motivations for writing the Philosophical Dictionary can be seen as an act of luck. The Idea was spawned at a dinner party in the court of Prince Frederick II of Prussia in 1752, he and other guest agreed to write an article each and share them the next morning. Voltaire consequently was the only guest to take the game seriously and the idea cascaded to form the Philosophical Dictionary.^[6]

The problems which Voltaire addresses in the Philosophical Dictionary are the sum of a long life of injustices which he witnessed. The injustices he witnessed such as the Calas and La Barre cases involved religious fanaticism as the root for the oppression and unjust treatments of innocent peoples.^[7] These events fuelled his vigour to write the Philosophical Dictionary regardless of what ever dangers he could face if the authorities had the evidence to pinpoint him as the author.

[edit] Structure

The Philosophical Dictionary is structured in the tradition of Bayle, Diderot and d’Alembert. The articles in Voltaire’s Dictionary are alphabetically ordered, although this helps readers more easily find articles this was not meant to be a dictionary or encyclopaedia. Voltaire’s writing is neither objective or varied in opinion, the same arguments are made throughout the Philosophical Dictionary emphasising the point of his discontent.

[edit] Themes

Many of the themes addressed by Voltaire in this book can be read to address or are in some way touched upon by l’Infame. Voltaire was more concerned with the injustices of the Catholic Church, intolerance, fanaticism, and injustice, as well as supporting deism, tolerance, and freedom of press.

[edit] Influences

Due to the fact that this work was written late in the authors life coupled with the fact that it is compiled of articles written over an extended period of time the work had many influences. The influences noticeably change depending on the theme which the article addresses.

The first major influence on the Philosophical Dictionary is Voltaire’s visit to England. This visit was influential because England already had free press and France did not. Voltaire held this freedom given to authors on a pedestal. Voltaire and many of his contemporaries were very often attacked by the church and court for censorship issues. His visit to England gave him the chance to compare the problems in France with a place that had achieved a more progressive outlook on freedom of the press.

His visit to England was also important because it gave him the opportunity to become better acquainted with important and influential thinkers such as Locke and Newton. Newtonian theory is influential in many of the articles that deal toleration stating that if we “do not know the essence of things we will not persecute others,”^[8]for those things.

The Calas affair was an event that shaped Voltaire during the creation of the Philosophical dictionary. Jean Calas was a Calvinist who was wrongfully convicted of killing his Son. This occurred because there had been a rumour that the murder was fuelled by Jean Calases son was going to convert to Christianity. David de Beaudrige who was in charge of the case upon hearing this rumour had the Calas family arrested without inquiry.^[9] Just as Voltaire had been involved in fighting to clear the name of the innocent family he also used this theme in the Philosophical Dictionary to fight against the fanaticism of the Catholic Church.

[edit] Reception

The reception of the Philosophical Dictionary can be seen as being mixed. On one hand the book had a very strong reception of the part of the general public. The first edition was quickly sold out;^[10] many more editions were needed to keep up with the demand. Enlightened rulers such as Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine the great of Russia both have been recorded as being supporters of the book.

On the other hand the Philosophical Dictionary was despised by religious authorities who had a very important influence over what works would be censored. The Philosophical Dictionary was censored in many countries including Switzerland (Geneva) and France, in these countries all available copies of the book were collected and burned in the town square.^[11] If Voltaire had not remained anonymous throughout the lifespan of the book he would have face time in the Bastile. On numerous occasions he was asked if he minded that the Portatif was being burned, but he calmly replied that he had no reason to be upset.^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography