Hungarian Philosophical Encyclopedia is being prepared at Corvinus

A volume similar to the planned Hungarian Philosophical Encyclopedia  has not yet been compiled in Hungarian: its profile, activity and encyclopedic character will also be an intellectual creative, scientific and educational workshop centre at the same time. Corvinus University of Budapest can spend HUF 120 million on the initiative from the tender funds of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, which has been under preparation since 2019.  

The encyclopedia pursues three main conceptual goals: On the one hand, it aims to unite the Hungarian philosopher society and focus its expertise in writing individual articles. On the other hand, it wishes to commemorate the large group of Hungarian-speaking philosophers with Hungarian motives, whose members come from the field of historical Hungary, many of whom wrote their major works in a different language, in a different country (…). Finally, especially with the English version, it wishes to make clear to contemporary international scientific life the thematic and expert diversity, the special originality created by philosophical thinking born in the Hungarian environment. The volume will make it clear that there is Hungarian philosophy, there is thematically original Hungarian thinking, and all this is relevant in a broad sense in today’s intellectual world

– emphasizes Balázs Mihály Mezei, managing editor of the encyclopedia and research professor at Corvinus. 

By the end of the project, February 1, 2026, a manuscript edited text will be created, which is planned to be an alphabetically arranged unit document with cca. 700 articles yet to be edited for printing.  In addition, they organize numerous conferences, create studio discussions, publish reviews and a selection of the finished material. In addition to publishing volumes, the encyclopedia also functions as an intellectual hub, an independent focus of contemporary Hungarian intellectual life, with an annual symposium, talk shows and a separate book series. The website of the encyclopedia (MAFE) provides timely information about work, programs, and regularly updated example articles.  

The research background of the encyclopedia is provided by the editors’ academic institutions: Corvinus University of Budapest, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Károli Gáspár Reformed University, HUN-REN Research Network and Scruton Kft. More than 100 authors participate in the initiative. Digital and English versions of the volume are planned.