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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 Roman Catholic Church and other institutions. The first edition, released in June 1764, went by the name of ''Dictionnaire philosophique portatif''. It was 344 pages and consisted of 73 articles. Later versions were expanded into two volumes consisting of 120 articles.〔Voltaire (translated by Gay), p. 29-30〕 The first editions were published anonymously in Geneva by Gabriel Grasset. Due to the volatile content of the ''Dictionnaire'', Voltaire chose Grasset over his usual publisher to ensure his own anonymity.〔Pearson, p. 298.〕 There have been many editions and reprints of the ''Dictionnaire'' during Voltaire's life,〔See (here ) for an accurate list. Many books can be consulted on-line.〕 but only four of them contained additions and modifications.〔Voltaire, ''Dizionario filosofico'', Garzanti Editore, 1981, page 2. See them in the external links section.〕 Furthermore, another work published in 1770, ''Questions sur l'Encyclopédie'', which contained reshaped and modified articles from the Encyclopédie always in alphabetical order, led many following editors to join this and the ''Dictionnaire'' (plus other minor works) in a unique opus.〔. See also (here ) for an italian translation with missing notes.〕 The ''Dictionnaire'' was a lifelong project for Voltaire. It represents the culmination of his views on Christianity, God, morality and other subjects. ==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 ''Dictionnaire Historique et Critique'' (1697) by Pierre Bayle, in which the information is ordered alphabetically. Other important works using a similar structure followed, such as the ''Encyclopédie'' by Diderot and Jean 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 wasn't completed until 1764.〔Gay, p. 207〕 Having had the opportunity to write his ''Dictionary'' at a later point in time, Voltaire saw that there were certain problems with previous dictionaries, chiefly that they were all lengthy, and thus very expensive and unaccessible for much of the population. Voltaire sought to create a text which would fit in one's pocket and be affordable because "revolutionary material must be small enough for people to carry with them".〔Pearson, p. 298〕 What he created is a text which educated and amused at the same time.〔Voltaire (translated by Gay), p. 56〕 Voltaire's motivations for writing the ''Philosophical Dictionary'' can be seen as serendipitous. The idea was spawned at a dinner party in the court of Prince Frederick II of Prussia in 1752, during which he and other guests each agreed to write an article 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''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dictionnaire philosophique」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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