Il 'Philosophical Dictionary' di Franz Xaver Swediauer: un esempio di divulgazione scientifica nel XVIII secolo

The Philosophical Dictionary: or, the opinion of modern philosophers on metaphysical, moral, and political subjects, published anonymously in London in 1786 by the Austrian physician Franz Xaver Swediauer, is the first English dictionary of philosophy ever printed. The work is a collection of selected passages taken from different works. Some passages are even anonymous, so this article trues to demonstrate that the anonymous author is but Swediauer himself. Most of the selected authors are chosen among the so called 'Free Thinkers' of the time, and a special role is played by Bolinbroke, Voltaire, Hume, Helvetius and Rousseau. As soon as The Philosophical Dictionary appeared it was sharply criticized by journals such as «The Montly Review», «Critical Review» and above all «The English Review, or an abstract of English and foreign literature» for so large a presence of passages taken from Hume and Voltaire. According to the Author's opinion the book is just a «Common-place Book for private use». Hence, Swediauer's aim is rather evident: he wants to spread the opinion of the so called 'Free Thinkers' among the well-educated readers of the time. His audience is not made of specialist scholars but of cultured, not too sophisicated people. With The Philosophical Dictionary Swediauer wants to «satisfy the curiosity of those who cannot purchase many books». In the Preface the Author emphasizes his desire to pupularize and points out that: «If the publication of it can add to the amusement of travellers who carry few books with them [...] or have little time to read them, it will answer every purpose the editor could expect».