From abstraction to Wunsch: The Vocabulaire Europeen des Philosophies

The "Vocabulaire Europeen des Philosophies", edited by Barbara Cassin, deserves a warm welcome from everyone interested in philosophy and its history. The work in many respects redefines the genre of philosophical dictionary, reviving the cultural ambitions of both the medieval summa and such Enlightenment dictionaries as Bayle's "Dictionnaire historique et critique" of 1702. It defines philosophy's past and its future prospects, as well as opening up new areas of research by suggesting unexpected links between existing problems and traditions of philosophy and between philosophy and non-philosophical others.