Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary

by Voltaire

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Pages: 237

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About this book

Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary says in its preface that the book does not demand continuous reading, but at whatever place one opens it, one will find matter for reflection. The preface says it is only really by enlightened people that the book can be read, the ordinary man not being made for such knowledge.

A passage asks the reader to bring the same judgment to bear on a dog which has lost its master and has sought him on every road with sorrowful cries, and says that barbarians seize the dog, nail it on a table and dissect it alive to show the mesenteric veins. A passage on the Maid says she was taken to Jean de Luxembourg, Comte de Ligny, and shut up in the fortress of Beaulieu, and that the gallant Talbot was far from having the shepherd burned. The text asks whether there can exist a people free from all superstitious prejudices, and notes that it is said that there is no superstition in the magistrature of China.

About the author

Voltaire

Voltaire (1694-1778), pen name of Francois-Marie Arouet, was a French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, and polemicist. Celebrated for his wit and his campaigns against tyranny and religious intolerance, he produced plays, histories, essays, and tales, of which Candide remains the most widely read.