Diderot, Denis
Diderot, Denis
(1713-1784) He was editor-in-chiet ot trie French Encyclopaedia and as such had a far reaching influence in the Enlightenment. His own views changed from an initial deism to a form of materialism and ended in a pantheistic naturalism. He displayed a keen interest in science and may be viewed as a forerunner of positivism. He issued severe polemics against the Christian religion.
De la suffisance de la religion naturelle, 1747 (publ. 1770);
Lettre sur les aveugles . . . (1749);
Le Reve d’Alembert, 1769 (publ. 1830);
La religieuse, 1760;
Le neveu de Rameau, 1761,
Jacques le fataliste, 1773.
Cf. J. Morley, Diderot and the Encyclopedists, 1878, 2d ed. 1886. — L.E.D.