Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers

This major new publication is the most comprehensive reference source ever on eighteenth-century authors writing in the English language about philosophical ideas and issues. Featuring authors taken from 1689 through to the middle of the nineteenth century, the period beginning with John Locke and ending with Dugald Stewart, the word 'philosophical' is used in a wide, eighteenth-century sense. Thus the Dictionary includes epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, education, politics, rhetoric, science, medicine, biology, geology, chemistry and theology, and many of the authors may more usually be called divines, scientists, doctors, mathematicians, or even poets. In addition to short biographies of the writers, there are detailed expositions and analyses of their doctrines and ideas, bibliographies of their writings and suggestions for further reading. There are also mini-entries on extremely obscure figures and appendices listing anonymous tracts. All the major eighteenth-century philosophers are featured, but the most valuable feature of the Dictionary is its representation of a huge range of less well-known writers. In many cases the Dictionary offers the first scholarly treatment of the life and work of certain writers. This book will be an indispensable reference work for scholars working on almost any aspect of eighteenth-century studies.

KEY FEATURES OF THE DICTIONARY:
—the first reference work dedicated to 18th-century philosophers
—more than 600 entries, including all the main figures and a huge variety of less well-known writers
—a broad-ranging treatment of 'philosophy' that includes scientific figures, theologians, politicians and poets
—the first biographical source available on many 18th-century figures
—bibliographies of authors including suggestions for further reading; lists of anonymous tracts and mini- entries on extremely obscure authors; entries alphabetically arranged, comprehensively indexed and cross-referenced
—illustrious editorial team: 8 Supervising Editors and 95 contributors, including the most respected international scholars in the field
—contributors include: Richard Popkin, Roy Porter, David Berman, G. A. J. Rogers, John W. Yolton, Hiroshi Mizuta, Peter Alexander, Godfrey Vesey, M. A. Stewart, Stuart Brown, Sarah Hutton, David Knight, Robert Wokler, Knud Haakonssen, Richard B. Sher, D. O. Thomas and Roy Harris