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The Dictionnaire philosophique prints anti-Jewish articles under Voltaire’s name

In 1764 the Dictionnaire philosophique appeared with articles that repeatedly defame Jews as a people, not only biblical criticism of the Old Testament. Voltaire’s anti-clericalism used Jews as a battering ram against Scripture. In the causal graph this event weakens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

In 1764 the Dictionnaire philosophique appeared with articles that repeatedly defame Jews as a people, not only biblical criticism of the Old Testament. It is not a later racial law.

Context

Voltaire’s anti-clericalism used Jews as a battering ram against Scripture. That tactic still published group contempt. SEP and Gallica independently make the text public.

Voltaire is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

Minority-rights harm path. High confidence on the printed words.

Tolerance for Calas and contempt for Jews can sit in one career. Split the rows; do not average them.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Voltaire

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.45 · verified

    He wrote the articles. Clandestine printers issued them. Complex: later antisemitic movements quoted him without making him their legislator.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactThe Dictionnaire philosophique prints anti-Jewish articles under Voltaire’s name
    2. weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.5 · Effect from 1 January 1764 · verified

    • Having a say in government

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — VoltaireStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Gallica — Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBibliothèque nationale de France · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Gallica holds digitised Dictionnaire printings. SEP’s Voltaire entry treats the anti-Judaism as a real limit on his tolerance reputation. Different publishers.

Established: the 1764 dictionary contains those articles. Not established: that every later antisemite is his pupil by a unique coefficient.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, and museums are not converted into extra lifetime acts. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself. Confidence is stated on the impact path. A later English edition is not a recovered autograph. If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorVoltaire
  2. contributed toFactThe Dictionnaire philosophique prints anti-Jewish articles under Voltaire’s name
  3. weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). The Dictionnaire philosophique prints anti-Jewish articles under Voltaire’s name. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/vo-dictionnaire-1764

https://factrail.ai/facts/vo-dictionnaire-1764

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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