bubonic's Reviews > Philosophical Dictionary

Originally published as a response to Diderot's, Encyclopedia, it became a book with its own merits in later editions which is the one that we are familiar with today. Wholly advocating for religious toleration, as the theme in France was the persecution of Protestants and Calvinists, one will find this theme throughout the various essays.

Not quite as illuminative as it was during the enlightenment, there are numerous essays that stood the test of time. Namely the essays: False Minds, Free-will, God, Liberty Sects and others. False Minds is very apropos as societies are fighting the idea of "alternative facts" currently. The next three have the themes as defining what we mean by free will and what it is that we mean when we refer to the Supreme Being. Lastly, Sects, deals with how logic and mathematics have no such thing as a sect as they have truth in their foundation whereas religious sects wage wars arguing over what is true and just.

My favorite essay of the 96 compiled essays has to be Fraud. This is an essays written as a conversation between to learned men. One being a fakir the other a disciple of Confucius. They debate things such as Cartesian Doubt and whether or not we should teach people by deceiving them. Hilarious and enlightening but stood out to me as one of great ones.

This books is jam packed with references - some very obscure, most of them obscure, and some common references. The Wikipedia app on a tablet or phone will be your best friend if you want to get everything you can out of this remarkable book.