Le Dictionnaire universel (1690), témoin d’un siècle insurrectionnel

Antoine Furetière’s posthumous Dictionnaire universel (1690) was considered at the time to be the most complete French dictionary ever published. His particular focus on arts and science and his encyclopedic ambition lead us to hypothesize that this work may legitimately be considered a scientific volume that reflects the state and constitution of 17^th-century knowledge. The Dictionnaire universel bears witness to the emergence and development of a new philosophy of nature in the 17^th century, characterized by a shift away from traditional scholasticism and the advent of new ways of seeing the natural world.