Denis Diderot 1713 – 1784
Denis Diderot was a French Enlightenment philosopher, novelist, and art critic, and the chief editor of the Encyclopedie, a vast collaborative work that aimed to gather and propagate the rational knowledge of the age. Over more than twenty years, in the face of censorship and the temporary loss of his collaborators, he saw the project through to completion. His own writings range from the materialist metaphysics of D'Alembert's Dream to the satirical dialogue Rameau's Nephew and the novels Jacques the Fatalist and The Nun. He spent the last years of his life in the patronage of Catherine the Great.
Key facts
- Nationality
- French
- Era
- Modern
- Movements
- Enlightenment
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Denis Diderot:
“Skepticism is the first step toward truth.”
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Attributed to Denis Diderot:
“The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.”
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Attributed to Denis Diderot:
“We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many keys struck by the nature surrounding us, and which often strike themselves.”
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Attributed to Denis Diderot:
“There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.”
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Attributed to Denis Diderot:
“Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.”