Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie Gesamtwerk Bd. 1-13

The Historical Dictionary of Philosophy (HWPh), developed from 1971 to 2007 with the collaboration of more than 1,500 experts, is one of the most comprehensive, significant, and successful publication projects in recent German-speaking humanities. Unlike other lexicons or encyclopedias, the HWPh is not based on a history of philosophical ideas or problems, but rather on the history of philosophical terms. In 12 text volumes and a final index volume, the dictionary documents the origins and development of a total of 3,670 philosophical terms in 17,144 columns and around 6,000 articles, supported by numerous precise references and citations, and describes the evolution of their meaning and function from their first appearance to the present day. The concept of the historical-semantic method makes both the synchronic position and significance of individual terms in specific epochs or among particular philosophers, as well as their diachronic changes in meaning within the history of Western philosophy, comprehensible. To illustrate the specific philosophical work on terms in the context of the entire scientific system, terms from adjacent fields – theology, psychology, pedagogy, sociology, history and art history, politics, jurisprudence, medicine, as well as from the natural sciences – are also addressed.

“A unique standard work of conceptual archaeology worldwide.” Der Spiegel
“A work without equal – not even in the Anglo-Saxon world. Certainly, one cannot spell this century without the dictionary.” NZZ
“It will soon prove its indispensability notably for individual workers in many fields of history and science.” History of Science, London
“One can only enviously congratulate this grand endeavor.” Wiener Jahrbuch für Philosophie
“The largest project in the world for the defense against conceptual demons.”.