🎉   Please check out our new website over at books-etc.com.

Seller
Your price
£9.74
RRP: £10.99
Save £1.25 (11%)
Dispatched within 2-3 working days.

A Pocket Philosophical Dictionary

Oxford World's Classics

By (author) Voltaire
Translated by John Fletcher
Introduction and notes by Nicholas Cronk
Format: Paperback / softback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom
Published: 11th Aug 2011
Dimensions: w 142mm h 197mm d 15mm
Weight: 224g
ISBN-10: 0199553637
ISBN-13: 9780199553631
Barcode No: 9780199553631
Trade or Institutional customer? Contact us about large order quotes.
Synopsis
'What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?' Voltaire's Pocket Philosophical Dictionary, first published in 1764, is a major work of the European Enlightenment. It is also a highly entertaining book: this is no 'dictionary' in the ordinary sense, nor does it treat 'philosophy' in the modern meaning of the term. It consists of a sequence of short essays or articles, arranged in alphabetical order, and covering everything from Apocalypse and Atheism to Tolerance and Tyranny. The unifying thread of these articles is Voltaire's 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 text, and reprints the edition that provoked widespread controversy and condemnation. In his Introduction Nicholas Cronk considers the work's continuing relevance to modern debates about religious intolerance and its consequences. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

New & Used

Seller Information Condition Price
-New£9.74
+ FREE UK P & P

What Reviewers Are Saying

Submit your review
Newspapers & Magazines
a marvellously Swiftian look at the bleakness of existence. * Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian * In John Fletcher's wonderfully luminous translation, the Dictionnaire philosophique portatif is like a breath of fresh air... Nicholas Cronk's discreet, helpful introduction and notes direct us to Voltaire's main concern: religion. * David Coward, Times Literary Supplement *