Which French philosopher wrote 'Dictionnaire philosophique'?

Voltaire wrote the Dictionnaire philosophique. First published anonymously in 1764 as the Dictionnaire philosophique portatif, it presented his ideas in short, alphabetically arranged articles.

Voltaire designed the book to be compact, affordable, and widely circulated. Unlike the enormous multi-volume Encyclopédie, a portable dictionary could reach readers beyond elite libraries. Its entries discuss religion, morality, politics, history, philosophy, and society, often using irony and sharp criticism to challenge intolerance and religious dogmatism.

The work was published in Geneva by Gabriel Grasset, with Voltaire’s authorship initially concealed because of the danger posed by its controversial arguments. The first edition contained 73 articles. Later editions expanded and revised the material, and posthumous editors combined it with writings from other alphabetical projects, sometimes creating confusion about the work’s exact boundaries.

Voltaire’s book should not be confused with Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie, although Voltaire contributed some articles to that larger project. Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Diderot were major Enlightenment thinkers, but none wrote the Dictionnaire philosophique.