Book Review: The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy

Abstract

Introduction:  Compilers of dictionaries are on a hiding to nothing. If they get it right, it all seems effortless and obvious, if they get it wrong, their shortcomings are there for all to see. Dictionaries of philosophy are particularly problematic, perhaps, given that philosophy is a discipline in which disagreement is endemic. It is also a discipline that has a very long history. One of the ways in which these problems can be addressed is by explicitly limiting a dictionary’s scope. So in their preface, Nicholas Bunnin and Jiyuan Yu say: ‘Although the Dictionary covers a wide historical range and explores many subject areas, it focuses on terms and individuals at the center of current philosophical discussion’ (p. vii). However, in order to justify such a work at all, it also has to do more than just duplicate others of the same genre, and this may be as much a matter of form as of content.