Philosophical Dictionary (Penguin Classics)

One of the best books I ever read. It changed the way I looked at the world. This man was a genious pure and simple. He also had great literary skills and a good sense of humour too.

I'm not your typical philosophe reader, being a high school girl who usually prefers pop music to any sort of book, but there is something about voltaire's writings that appeals to me. Not also are there some great statements made in this book, but clues to what life was like back in his day. Even some of his inaccurate views are valuable because they show how people viewed concepts like Islam. His writing is witty, yet rational and even though sometimes difficult to interperet in modern language, if you read in serveral times and refer to a dictionary often you will understand what he is saying. Although some of the articles are irrelevent for today's world they are useful in historical context and there are many articles that are and always will be relwvent. Don't pass this book off as old fashioned, Voltaire never goes out of style.

This volume is the great culmination of Voltaire's beliefs. The humor, honesty, cynicism, and perspective that Voltaire is noted for comes shining through in this excellent work. It is a series of articles on subjects important to philosophers of Voltaire's time, such as religion, humanism, and ethics. This book is about 350 pages in Penguin's typical trade-paperback format. I treasure my copy of this book, and I think you will too if you at all like philosophical discussion.