Denis Diderot main ideas. Diderot and Encyclopedia D Diderot's main works

27.06.2024

Read also

At the last line (Mikhail Delyagin)

Diderot and Encyclopedia D Diderot's main works

Evgeny Yevtushenko: biography, creativity and interesting facts from the life of the poet

Didactic material on mathematics

Animal that looks like the number 7

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

Ppractical work

Philosopher's viewsDenis Diderot

1. Biography of Denis Diderot

diderot philosopher materialism

Denis Diderot (1713-84) - French philosopher-educator, writer, foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1773). Founder and editor of the Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts (volumes 1-35, 1751-80).

In the philosophical works of Denis Diderot - “Letter on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (1749), “Thoughts on the Explanation of Nature” (1754), “Saint D'Alembert” (1769, edition 1830), “Philosophical Principles of Matter and Motion” (1770, edition 1798), being a supporter of the enlightened monarchy, spoke out with irreconcilable criticism of absolutism, the Christian religion and the church, defended (based on sensationalism) materialist ideas. He maintained friendly relations with Dmitry Alekseevich Golitsyn, a representative of the Golitsyn family.

Diderot's literary works were written mainly in the tradition of the realistic everyday novel of the Enlightenment (imbued with folk love of life and worldly wisdom, the novel "Jacques the Fatalist", 1773, edition 1796; anti-clerical novel "The Nun", 1760, edition 1796; wit, dialectical, not without cynical shade, a game of mind - in the novel “Ramo’s Nephew”, 1762-79, edition 1823). Works on public education.

Denis Diderot was born on October 5, 1713, Langres. His mother, née Angelique Vigneron, was the daughter of a tanner (and sister of a canon), and his father, Didier Diderot, was a cutler. At the request of his family, young Denis prepared himself for a spiritual career; in 1723-28 he studied at the Langres Jesuit College, and in 1726 he became an abbot. During this period he was religious, fasting often and wearing a hair shirt. In 1728 or 1729 Diderot arrived in Paris to complete his education. According to some evidence, he studied there, at the Jansenist College d'Harcourt, according to others, at the Jesuit College of Louis the Great. It is also assumed that Diderot attended both of these educational institutions and that it was the mutual attacks of the Jesuits and Jansenists that turned him away from his chosen path. In 1732 He received a master's degree from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris and was thinking of becoming a lawyer, but preferred a free lifestyle.

In 1743, Denis Diderot married Anne-Toinnette Champion, who together with her mother ran a linen shop. Marriage did not stop him from being attracted to other women. He felt the deepest feeling for Sophie Volland, whom he met in the mid-1750s; He retained his affection for her until his death. For the first time after his marriage, Diderot made money through translations. In 1743-48 he translated from English “History of Greece” by T. Stenian, “Essay on Dignity and Virtue” by E.E.K. Shaftesbury, "Medical Dictionary" by R. James. At the same time, his first works were written, testifying not so much to maturity as to the courage of the novice author: “Philosophical Thoughts” (1746), “Alleys, or the Walk of a Skeptic” (1747, published), “Immodest Treasures” (1748), “ Letters about the blind for the edification of the sighted" (1749). Judging by them, by 1749 Diderot was already a deist, and then a convinced atheist and materialist. Diderot's free-thinking writings led to his arrest and imprisonment in Vincennes Castle (July - October 1749).

2. Diderot and the encyclopedia

In the early 1740s, the Parisian publisher A.F. Le Breton had the idea to translate into French the “Encyclopedia, or General Dictionary of Crafts and Sciences” by the Englishman E. Chambers. Le Breton and his companions (A.C. Briasson, M.A. David and Durand), after an unsuccessful experience with the first editor-in-chief, Abbot J.P. De Gua de Malvome - decided in 1747 to entrust their undertaking to Denis Diderot and D'Alembert. It is not known exactly who - Diderot, D'Alembert or Abbot de Gua - had the idea to refuse to publish a slightly modified version of the English dictionary and prepare an independent publication. But it was Diderot who gave the Encyclopedia the scope and polemical fervor that made it a manifesto of the Enlightenment.

Over the next 25 years, D. Diderot remained at the head of the Encyclopedia, which had grown to 28 volumes (17 volumes of articles and 11 volumes of illustrations), which he managed to carry through all the reefs. And there were quite a few of them: the already mentioned imprisonment in 1749, and the suspension of publication in 1752, and the crisis in 1757-59, which led to the departure of D'Alembert and a temporary ban on publication, and the actual censorship of the last 10 volumes by Le Breton. In 1772, the first the publication of the Encyclopedia was largely completed; in addition to Diderot (he wrote about 6,000 articles) and D'Alembert, such Enlightenment geniuses as Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Holbach collaborated in it. In addition, articles on specific sections were written by masters and experts in their field: sculptor E.M. Falconet, architect J.F. Blondel, grammarians N. Bose and S.Sh. Du Marsay, engraver and draftsman J.B. Papillon, naturalists L. Daubanton and N. Desmarais, economist F. Quesnay.

The result was a universal body of modern knowledge. At the same time, in articles on political topics, no preference was given to any form of government; praise for the Geneva Republic was accompanied by the caveat that such an organization of power was only suitable for a country with a small territory. Some articles (more precisely, their authors) supported a limited monarchy, others - an absolute one, seeing in it a guarantor of general prosperity.

In 1751, Denis Diderot published “Letter on the Deaf and Dumb for the Edification of Those Who Hear,” examining in it the problem of cognition in the context of the symbolism of gestures and words. In “Thoughts on the Explanation of Nature” (1753), created in the image and likeness of Francis Bacon’s “New Organon”, Diderot, from the position of sensationalism, polemicized with the rationalistic philosophy of Descartes, Malebranche and Leibniz, in particular with the theory of innate ideas, seeing in the accumulated by the end of 18 V. scientific knowledge (the discoveries of Bernoulli, Euler, Maupertuis, D'Alembert, Buffon, etc.), the basis of a new, experimental interpretation of nature.

In the 50s, Denis Diderot published two plays - The Bastard or Trials of Virtue (1757) and The Father of the Family (1758). Having abandoned the normative poetics of classicism in them, he sought to implement the principles of the new (“philistine”) drama depicting conflicts between people of the third estate in everyday life. Diderot's main artistic works are the story “The Nun” (1760, published 1796), the novel-dialogue “Ramo’s Nephew” (1762-1779, published by Goethe in German in 1805, published in French in 1823), the novel “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master” (1773, published in German in 1792, in French in 1796) remained unknown to many of his contemporaries. Despite the difference in genres, they are united by rationality, realism, a clear transparent style, a sense of humor, and a lack of verbal embellishment. They expressed Diderot's rejection of religion and the church, a tragic awareness of the power of evil, as well as commitment to humanistic ideals and high ideas about human duty.

The philosophical and aesthetic principles proclaimed by Diderot are also manifested in his attitude towards fine art. Diderot published reviews of the Paris Salons from 1759 to 1781 in the “Literary Correspondence” of his friend F.M. Grimm, a handwritten newspaper sent by subscription to enlightened European monarchs and sovereign princes. Denis Diderot's Salons were also not published during his lifetime; they were published gradually in 1795-1857 and only in 1875-77 were first brought together in a collection of his works.

4. Diderot and Russia

Catherine II, as soon as she ascended the throne, suggested that Diderot transfer to Russia the publication of the Encyclopedia, which was experiencing considerable difficulties in France. Behind the empress’s gesture was hidden not only a desire to strengthen her reputation, but also a desire to satisfy the interest of Russian society in the Encyclopedia. During the 18th century, 25 collections of translations from the Encyclopedia were published in Russia.

By rejecting Catherine II's proposal, Diderot did not lose her favor. In 1765, she acquired his library, paying him 50 thousand livres and giving him the right to keep books in her house for life as the empress's personal librarian.

In 1773 Denis visited Russia at the invitation of Catherine II. He lived in St. Petersburg from October 1773 to March 1774, and was elected a foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1773). Upon his return, he wrote a number of essays on the prospects for Russia’s integration into European civilization. Skeptical statements in his “Remarks” on the order of Catherine II (published in full in 1921) aroused Catherine’s rage (the manuscript was delivered to St. Petersburg after the death of the philosopher).

5. The emergence of materialism

A radical change in Diderot's worldview occurred just a year after the publication of Shaftesbury's translation, in 1746 at. In his first original work, “Pensees Philosophiques” - “Philosophical Reflections,” Denis fundamentally criticized his previously promoted thesis about the organic connection of moral principles with religion. From now on, he defends a new idea, according to which morality is not subject to religion. Diderot now seeks to look for the roots of moral principles not in the other world, but in human nature itself. He sees faith in virtue and the deep foundations for it in the nature of the human spirit.

Diderot resolutely rebels against asceticism, persistently demanding the emancipation of human bodies. In this regard, in Philosophical Reflections he writes:

“The height of madness is to set oneself the goal of destroying passions. How good is this theological saint, who is exhausted with all his strength in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who in the end would become a real monster if he succeeded in his endeavor!

It is noteworthy that during this period of his quest, while still defending the principles of deism, Denis interprets the nature of God not at all in the spirit of traditional theology. In the Philosophical Meditations one can detect pantheistic tendencies in the spirit of the ideas of Benedict Spinoza. It was from this angle that Diderot stated:

“People expelled the deity from their midst, they imprisoned him in the sanctuary; the walls of the temple enclose the place where it can be seen; outside of them it does not exist.”

Observing around him the grief and suffering of people oppressed by the existing order, the thinker begins to doubt the mercy and justice of the supernatural:

“Hearing how the supreme being is portrayed, hearing about his anger, the severity of his revenge, hearing well-known comparisons expressing the numerical ratio between those whom he honors with his help, the most honest soul would be ready to wish that such a being had never existed.”

Thus, already in early skeptical reflections regarding the nature of the deity, the direction of the evolution of Diderot’s worldview towards philosophical materialism and atheism is visible. Solidarizing with the ideas of such prominent philosophers as M. Montaigny P. Bayle, who shared the principles of skepticism in their views, Diderot expressed doubts about the existence of the supernatural much more definitely than they did. He argued that what had never been doubted could not be proven. The principles of skepticism could not satisfy the truth-seeking young thinker.

In the process of deeply studying the achievements of the natural sciences of his time, especially physiology, Denis Diderot, decisively and persistently overcoming the ideas of the past, came to philosophical materialism and atheism. Already in 1747, in his work “Walkskeptic” » Diderot emphasizes the complete inconsistency and absurdity of divine revelation. At the same time, he puts forward a noble goal, which should inspire the seeker of truth “... to enlighten and improve the human mind.” In this work by Diderot, God appears under the name of the “sovereign”, who supposedly rules not only his kingdom, but the whole world. Diderot gives this “sovereign” a characterization that is imbued with the spirit of denial of the supernatural. With all categoricalness, the philosopher declares:

“No one saw him, and those of his associates who allegedly spoke with him (an allusion to Moses, Christ and Muhammad) spoke about him in such dark terms and attributed to him such strange, contradictory properties that one part of the people did not stop from then on, build different systems to explain this riddle or fight among themselves for the triumph of their opinions; the other part chose to doubt everything that was said about the sovereign, and some even decided not to believe any of it at all.”

The atheistic views of Denis Diderot finally took shape in the late 40s of the 18th century, as evidenced by his famous “Letter on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted,” which was published in 1749 . In this work, Diderot appears as a follower of philosophical materialism. The starting point of his reasoning is the thesis:

“We live in an era when the philosophical spirit has freed us from a lot of prejudices”

The cardinal question that occupies the philosopher in this direction is the question to what extent our concepts, our ideas about the world around us are determined by human senses and what the absence of such a sense as vision leads to in this regard. Diderot expounds his concept through the mouth of Saunderson, a real-life blind scientist who was a professor of mathematics at Cambridge. Saunderson states that he would agree with theologians who, citing the greatness and "miracles" of nature, prove the existence and omnipotence of God by touch. But no one succeeded. But with the help of touch, even in the absence of vision, a person is able to realize the existence of matter and movement. This work by the philosopher clearly and convincingly shows the inconsistency of theological ideas about the power of the deity. True, the censorship conditions of that time did not allow talking about this openly, so Denis had to either express her thoughts allegorically, or stand in solidarity with those who waver between faith and unbelief. In this regard, Diderot's letter to Voltaire dated July 11, 1749, permeated with a spirit of doubt and containing several contradictory judgments, is indicative. Speaking, for example, of his solidarity with Saunderson, Diderot argued that

“...a corporeal being is no less dependent on a spiritual being than a spiritual being is on a corporeal being, that together they constitute the universe and that the universe is God”

Diderot expressed the doubts that had haunted him for a long time in his “Letter to Voltaire” in the following words:

“I believe in God, although I live in harmony with atheists.”

And yet, despite all his ideological fluctuations, in his laborious and persistent search for truth, Diderot came ever closer to consistent materialist positions.

Conclusion

Diderot developed a theory according to which knowledge and experience are not aimed at comprehending the truth, but at achieving the ability to improve and increase human power. At the same time, Diderot takes into account the role of technology and industry in the development of thinking and knowledge. The methods and guides in knowledge are experiment and observation. On their basis, thinking can achieve knowledge, if not completely reliable, then highly probable.

The central work of Diderot's life was the creation of the Encyclopedia. Advanced in content, the Encyclopedia was militant in tone: the propaganda of new ideas was complemented by criticism of routine views, prejudices, and beliefs. Despite enormous difficulties, Diderot managed to complete the publication of the Encyclopedia.

Diderot wrote many works on art and art criticism; developed a new aesthetics of realism, defending the idea of the unity of goodness and beauty. He sought to implement the theoretical principles of the aesthetics he developed in his novels and dramas.

But with all these achievements, Diderot remained an idealist in understanding social phenomena. Fighting against feudal despotism, he defended the political system of an enlightened monarchy.

Thus, Diderot's role is very important for the Age of Enlightenment. Diderot was convinced that humanity was moving forward, and helped this movement.

Bibliography

1. Akimova A.A. Diderot. ZhZL. M., Young Guard, 1963, p. 151-170, 386-390, 432-475.

2. Reale J., Antiseri D. Western philosophy from its origins to the present day. T.3, New Time, 1996, p. 487-493.

3. Philosophical Dictionary. Ed. Frolova I.T., Ed. fourth, M., Political literature, 1980, p. 98.

4. Yudovskaya A.Ya., Baranov P.A., Vanyushkina L.M. Story. The world in new times. 1640-1870. Textbook for 9th grade. St. Petersburg: “SMIO Press”, 2002, p. 79-80.

Posted on Allbest.ru

Biography from Wikipedia

Worldview

Diderot denied the dualistic doctrine of the bifurcation of the material and spiritual principles, recognizing that only matter with sensitivity exists, and complex and varied phenomena are only the result of the movement of its particles. A person is only what the general system of education and changes in facts make of him; every human action is an act necessary in the concatenation of acts, and each of these latter is as inevitable as the rising of the sun. He was also a supporter of deism.

In his political views, Diderot was a supporter of the theory of enlightened absolutism. Like Voltaire, he did not trust the masses of the people, who, in his opinion, were incapable of making sound judgments in “moral and political matters,” and considered the ideal government system to be a monarchy, headed by a sovereign armed with all scientific and philosophical knowledge. Diderot believed in the beneficialness of the union of monarchs and philosophers, and just as his materialist teaching was directed against the clergy and aimed at transferring power over “souls” to philosophers, so his enlightened absolutism sought to transfer state power to these same philosophers.

It is known how the alliance of philosophers and monarchs ended. The latter courted the former, but the former had no real influence on the practical policies of the enlightened despots. When Diderot came to St. Petersburg in 1773 at the invitation of Catherine II, she treated the thinker kindly, talked with him for hours, but was skeptical about his projects about the destruction of luxury at court, the use of freed funds for the needs of the people and universal free education. The famous philosopher almost (since the thinker died while the money was coming) received from Catherine a large sum of money for his library, and it was left at his disposal, and Diderot was paid a certain salary for managing this library.

Diderot is also an ideologist of the bourgeoisie in his literary works. He paved the way in France for bourgeois-sentimental drama, which had already originated in England (Lillo, Moore, Cumberland, etc.).

Creation

In 1757, his first play “The Illegitimate Son” (French: Un fils naturel) appeared, and the following year, 1758, another, “The Father of the Family” (French: Père de famille). The very title of both works indicates that their subjects were family relationships. In the first, Diderot defended the rights of illegitimate children, in the second - the right of a son to choose his wife according to the direction of his heart, and not his father. In the discussions that accompanied these plays, Diderot establishes a new type of dramatic art, which he calls the “serious genre.” Classical theater made a strict division between tragedy, a genre that existed for sublime and heroic themes, for the depiction of the upper class, on the one hand, and comedy with everyday themes and heroes from the simple classes, on the other. The very fact of the establishment of a middle genre (between tragedy and comedy), which subsequently became so widespread under the name of drama, testified to the influence that the bourgeoisie had on the development of literature. The “serious genre” removed the boundaries that separated the aristocratic classes from the lower ones, sublime feelings from everyday ones. The right to the tragic ceased to be the exclusive right of court society.

According to Diderot's teachings, touching and sublime feelings can also be found in the poor. On the other hand, the funny and funny are not alien to the court aristocracy. If the bourgeoisie sought to destroy class barriers between itself and the privileged nobility, then Diderot destroyed class barriers in literary genres. From now on, the tragedy became more humanized. All classes could be represented in a dramatic work. At the same time, the rationalistic construction of characters gave way to a real depiction of living people. Sensitivity and moralizing are the main features of the new genre, questions of family and morality are its main themes, virtuous bourgeois, poor people and peasants are the predominant heroes. The new genre fully corresponded to the tasks of the Enlightenment Age, the theater became a conductor of liberation ideas, returned to human nature, abolished all conventions, etiquette, solemn verse and the high style of the classical direction, fully meeting the tastes of the bourgeoisie, which did not have heroic ancestors and memories, loved the family hearth and lived in the atmosphere of her everyday worries.

These same views - fidelity to nature, the unsuitability of classical conventions and the importance of the moralizing element in art - Diderot defends both as a critic and theorist of art. He wrote not only about literature, but also about the fine arts (“Salons”) and the art of the actor (“The Paradox of the Actor”). In his “Salons” he brought painting and sculpture closer to literature, demanded “moral pictures” and considered the visual arts as a unique means of influencing minds. “The Paradox of the Actor” has not yet lost its significance in terms of the richness and originality of its thoughts. Diderot is the enemy of the actor's "gut" theory. An actor must play thoughtfully, having studied human nature, steadily imitating some ideal model, guided by his imagination, his memory - such an actor will always be equally perfect: everything with him is measured, thoughtful, studied, and put in order. “Power over us does not belong to the one who is in ecstasy, who is beside himself: this power is the privilege of the one who controls himself.”

If Diderot's dramas retained only historical interest, then Diderot turned out to be happier in his stories. In them he more successfully conveys the positive things that the ideologists of the bourgeoisie contributed to literature. Here the hero’s dependence on the environment, their connection and interaction is clearly expressed: the hero is inserted into the framework of everyday conditions, and man in general, man rationalistically, abstractly constructed by the classics, is contrasted with a social type, a living image that illuminates the meaning of an entire era.

Of Diderot's fictional works, the most famous are Jacques the Fatalist (French Jacques le fataliste, 1773) and especially Rameau's Nephew (French Le Neveu de Rameau, published posthumously), his best work of fiction. “Jacques the Fatalist” is a story about the travels and adventures of two friends, into which the author inserted a number of episodes. Here a string of characteristic figures of that time is brought out, licentiousness, selfishness, vacuity, pettiness and lack of deep interests in the so-called “society” are criticized; this latter is contrasted with examples of virtue, sincerity and sensitivity - qualities acquired by Diderot in the bourgeois environment. Rameau, the hero of another story, is a talented cynic, who simultaneously repels with his unprincipledness and attracts with his paradoxical judgments. In his face, Diderot embodied everything disgusting that lurked in the depths of the old society. Ramo is a scum that forms on the surface of the sea, agitated by ideological storms, in the era of the beginning of the liquidation of the remnants of noble-church domination. This is the turbidity that rose from the bottom, when a fresh stream burst into stagnant waters, when the old world and the concepts associated with it trembled and wavered in its foundations. Rameau easily moves from servility to arrogance, he is not just a scoundrel, he is a virtuoso of slander and deception, he enjoys the powerlessness of honest people in their fight against scoundrels and experiences something like artistic pleasure, attacking the weak, vulnerable sides of enlightenment philosophy, admires with his comfortable position as a cynic and the shamelessness of an impudence, which allows him to easily and skillfully penetrate loopholes accidentally formed during complex social struggles, eat and drink with pleasure and spend time in idleness. Rameau denies all morality - not only the foundations on which the old society rested, but also the new one that arose with the growth of the bourgeoisie. He is an enemy of any organized society, a typical bohemian, an individualist, who is outraged by any discipline, any violence against the individual. And yet, in Rameau there is something from Diderot himself, namely a huge supply of vitality, a powerful sense of nature, a natural sense of one’s “I” - something that was an essential element in the teachings of the encyclopedists. Diderot is ultimately ready to recognize him as right on one point: “the most important thing is that you and I exist and be ourselves, and let everything else go as it may.”

One should also point out Diderot’s story “The Nun” (French: La religieuse), which depicts the depraved morals of a convent. The story is told from the perspective of a young novice girl who does not understand what she is experiencing. The subtle combination of sensitivity, bold naturalism and psychological truth makes The Nun one of the best works of French prose of the 18th century. Thanks to its keen anti-clerical tendency, La religieuse is an excellent example of anti-religious propaganda of the 18th century.

Diderot is the author of the phrase “The mind of the ladder,” the equivalent of the Russian proverb “the mind is strong in hindsight.” In my essay Paradoxe sur le comedien Diderot describes how, during a dinner at the home of the statesman Jacques Necker, a remark was made to him that silenced him for a long time because, as he explains, “a sensitive person such as myself was overwhelmed by the argument put forward, confused and was able to think clearly, just coming down the stairs.”

About religion he said: “Religion prevents people from seeing, because it forbids them to look, under pain of eternal punishment.”

"Encyclopedia"

Diderot had a broad and comprehensive education, solid knowledge in the field of philosophy and natural science, social sciences, literature, painting, theater, etc. This allowed him to become the organizer and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia, the first volume of which was published in 1751, and which published intermittently for twenty-nine years. Diderot was the author of most articles on the exact sciences, economics, mechanics, philosophy, politics, and religion. Under his editorship, the first 28 of the 35 volumes of the Encyclopedia were created - 17 volumes of text (6 thousand articles) and 11 volumes of “engravings” (illustrations of the text), published between 1751 and 1766.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Diderot's death in 1984, the French post office issued a 100-franc postage stamp for the overseas department of Wallis and Futuna with a portrait of the philosopher and an image of the title page of the Encyclopedia.

Cinema

Ladies of the Bois de Boulogne (1945) - directed by Robert Bresson, a film adaptation of one of the stories in Denis Diderot's novel "Jacques the Fatalist".
The Nun (1966) - directed by Jacques Rivette. The exact title of the film is “Suzanne Simonen, The Nun of Denis Diderot.”
Jacques the Fatalist and His Master (TV, 1984) - directed by Claude Santelli.
The Libertine (2000) - directed by Gabriel Aguillon.
The Fatalist (2005) - directed by Joao Butelho.
The Nun (2013) - directed by Guillaume Nicloux.

Memory

In 1979, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the far side of the Moon named after Denis Diderot.

Diderot is a famous French writer, educational philosopher and playwright. Below read a short biography of Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot was born in France, in the city of Langres, on October 5, 1713. He became the founder of one of the largest reference publications of the 18th century, which, as it seems to many, paved the way for the Great French Revolution. This publication is called “Encyclopedia, or an explanatory dictionary of sciences, arts and crafts” (French: Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers).

Denis Diderot abandoned his church career, despite the fact that this was the strong desire of his family. As a result of this, the father refused to support him. Diderot began to earn a living by giving private lessons and writing articles for magazines. He made most of his income by writing essays for sermons.

Creativity in the biography of Denis Diderot

In 1743, Denis Diderot entered into marriage, marrying Antoinette Champion, who lived in great poverty. Some time before the wedding, Diderot went to Langres to demand his share of the family fortune. But the trip ended unsuccessfully. His father managed to put him in prison. Diderot escaped from prison and returned to Paris, after which he married his beloved. At the same time, it should be noted that the biography of Denis Diderot is not colored by the fact that he was an unfaithful husband and was often carried away by other women.

After the wedding, Diderot made a living from translations. He translated from English “History of Greece”, “Essay on Dignity and Virtue”, “Medical Dictionary”. At that time, he wrote his first works, which clearly spoke of the courage of the novice author. Some of them: “Philosophical Thoughts” (1746), “Alleys, or a Skeptic’s Walk” (1747) and others. With these works, Diderot declared himself as an atheist, materialist and determist. His work “Philosophical Thoughts” was published without the name of the author and was very successful. This was also expressed in the fact that the work was publicly burned.

Speaking about the creative biography of Denis Diderot, it is necessary to separately note that, together with his friend D’Alembert, he received an invitation to become the beginning of a huge new work called “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts.” Initially, it was planned to simply translate E. Chambers' encyclopedia from English. But thanks to the great efforts of Diderot and his friend, the work turned into a huge overview of the current state of knowledge in France.

For 25 years, Diderot remained at the head of the Encyclopedia, which grew to 28 volumes. During this period he faced many difficulties, including imprisonment, suspension of publications, and a crisis that led to d'Alembert's departure. In 1772, the first edition of the Encyclopedia was completed. In addition to Diderot and d'Alembert, such geniuses as Rousseau, Voltaire, and Montesquieu participated in its creation. One of the main suppliers of articles was Holbach. His house became a kind of factory where works of a radical and atheistic nature were translated and distributed.

Some time after completing the first edition of the Encyclopedia, Diderot published a Letter on the Deaf and Dumb. It was a continuation of the earlier Letter Concerning the Blind. Both Letters proceeded from Locke's theory, which Diderot and his Enlightenment friends considered the absolute truth. The meaning of the theory is that there are no “innate ideas”; all knowledge is acquired from experience.

Catherine II in the biography of Denis Diderot

In the mid-1760s, when work on the Encyclopedia was almost completed, Denis Diderot decided to sell his library. His friend, who knew Catherine II well, suggested that she purchase a library. Catherine II purchased his library for 50 thousand livres and gave him the right to keep books in her home for life as the empress's personal librarian.

Denis Diderot even wrote several treatises for Catherine II. In them, he tried to explain to the empress the evil of absolutist power and persuade the peasants to free themselves from serfdom. This did not bring any results. Diderot lived in St. Petersburg from October 1773 to March 1774. He was elected a foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

If you have already read the biography of Denis Diderot, you can rate this writer at the top of the page. In addition, in addition to the biography of Denis Diderot, we invite you to read about other writers in the section

In 1743, Diderot married Anne Antoinette Champion, who ran a linen shop with her mother. For the first time after his marriage, Diderot made money through translations. In 1743-1748 he translated from English Stenian's History of Greece, Shaftesbury's Essay on Dignity and Virtue, and James's Medical Dictionary.

In 1747, together with his friend the philosopher and mathematician Jean Leron D'Alembert, he received an invitation to become the head of the publication of the Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts. At first, the dictionary was considered as a translation of Ephraim Chambers' Encyclopedia (1728), but Through the efforts of Diderot and D'Alembert, it turned into a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in France. Diderot studied the history of philosophy and crafts.

In 1772, the first edition of the Encyclopedia was completed. The work took 25 years. The Encyclopedia consisted of 28 volumes - 17 volumes of articles and 11 volumes of illustrations. In addition to Diderot, who wrote about six thousand articles, philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire, Charles Louis Montesquieu, and Paul Henri Holbach were involved in its creation. Articles in sections were written by the sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet, the architect Jacques Francois Blondel, the naturalists Louis Jean Marie Daubanton and Nicolas Desmarais, the economist Francois Quesnay and others.
In his first philosophical works, Philosophical Thoughts (1746) and Alleys, or a Skeptic's Walk (1747), Diderot adhered to deism. In the essay “Letter about the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (1749), he switched to the positions of atheism and materialism. He contrasts the teleological proof of the existence of God with evolutionary views on nature. In July-October 1749, Diderot was arrested and imprisoned in Vincennes Castle for his free-thinking writings.
Atheistic materialism was further developed in his works “Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature” (1754), “Conversation between D’Alembert and Diderot” (1769), “Philosophical Principles Regarding Matter and Motion” (1770), etc.

Diderot is the author of several plays and novels. In the 1750s, he published two plays - “The Bastard Son or Trials of Virtue” (1757) and “The Father of the Family” (1758). Having abandoned the poetics of classicism, the playwright Diderot sought to implement the principles of the new (“philistine”) drama, depicting conflicts between people of the third estate in everyday life.

Diderot's main works of art - the story "The Nun" (1760), the novel dialogue "Ramo's Nephew" (1762-1779), the novel "Jacques the Fatalist and His Master" (1773) - remained unknown to his contemporaries and were first published after the death of the author. They expressed Diderot's rejection of religion and the church, as well as commitment to humanistic ideals.

In 1759-1781, as an art critic, Diderot wrote annual reviews of art exhibitions - "Salons". They were published in the handwritten newspaper Literary Correspondence by his friend, the writer Friedrich Melchior Grimm, which was sent by subscription to enlightened European monarchs and sovereign princes.

In 1765, the Russian Empress. Having paid for the library, Catherine left the books for his lifelong use and assigned the philosopher an annual salary as a librarian, paying the money for 50 years in advance.

From 1773 to 1774, Diderot, at the invitation of Catherine II, traveled to Russia and lived in St. Petersburg. He was elected a foreign honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1773). Upon his return, he wrote a number of essays on the prospects for Russia’s integration into European civilization. The manuscript was delivered to St. Petersburg after the death of the philosopher, and his skeptical statements on the “Instruction” of Catherine II aroused the ire of the Empress.

In recent years, Diderot continued to engage in literary projects. He prepared material for his friend, the historian Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, sharply criticizing France's colonial policies; published "Essay on Seneca", where he tried to justify the philosopher and statesman, in whom they usually saw the embodiment of hypocrisy.

On July 31, 1784, Denis Diderot died. He was buried in the Church of Saint Roch, but during the French Revolution of 1789, all burials in the church were destroyed and the bodies were transferred to a common grave.

Denis Diderot and his wife Anne Antoinette had three children, two of whom died at an early age, leaving a younger daughter, Marie Angelique (1753-1824).

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

DIDEROT (Diderot) DENI - French writer, philosopher.

Born into the family re-mes-len-ni-ka. Having brilliantly graduated from Je-zu-it-college in Langre, Diderot fled to Paris; studied at the College d'Harcourt, for literature, fi-lo-so-fi-ey, theo-lo-gi-ey, ma-te-ma-ti-koy and reg. Received the title of Master of Arts at Sorbonne (1732). Ra-bo-tal writ-mo-vo-di-te-lem from the pro-ku-ro-ra, teach-the-lem; for-no-small-sya per-re-vo-da-mi from English. In 1742, I became acquainted with Zh.Zh. Rus-so, since 1749 she studied in the work circle of P.A. Gol-ba-ha.

In early so-chi-ne-ni-yah (“Phi-lo-sophical thoughts” (“Pensées philosophiques”, published by anon-im-no in The Hague in 1746, according to mi-ka with de-istic position-zi-tions with Christian-sti-an-skaya fi-lo-so-fi-ey B. Pas-ka-lya), novel “Indiscreet so-cro -vis-cha" (“Les bijoux in-dis-crets”, 1748), “Lettre sur les aveugles à l'usa- ge de ceux qui voient", 1749), for the publication of someone he was imprisoned) for the publication -tion of Diderot's ma-the-ria-listical and atheistic ideas. Since 1747, Diderot, together with J. D'Alembert, began work on a multi-volume project "En-cyclo-pedia, or Tolstoy layer -var na-uk, arts and re-me-sel” (“Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers”, 1751-1780), which became the grand di-oz- house of scientific knowledge of the era of enlightenment. Diderot wrote for the publication of about 6,000 articles, and attracted many well-known scientists and writers to the collaboration -lo-pe-di-stov (Vol-te-ra, Sh.L. Mont-tes-quio, J.J. Rousseau, P.A. Gol-ba-ha and others). After the publication of the “En-cyclo-pedia” and its inclusion in the “Index of prohibited books” (1759), Diderot completed the project to the end, under-pol-but you-let-kaya and ras-sy-laya to-ma under-pee-chi-kam.

In the co-chi-ne-ni-yah “Thoughts on the explanation of nature” (“Pensées sur l’in-ter-pré-tation de la nature”, 1754), “ Raz-go-vor d'Alembert with Diderot" ("Entretien entre d'Alembert et Diderot") and "Dream d'Alembert" ("Rêve d'Alembert"; both 1769, edition 1830), "Phi -lo-sophical principles of ma-the-ria and movement" (“Sur la matière et le mouvement”, 1770, edition 1798) Diderot, as distinct from fur -ni-ciz-ma P.A. Gol-ba-ha and K.A. Gel-ve-tion, development-vi-val or-ga-ni-che-ski-di-na-michesky po-ni-ma-nie uni-ver-su-ma (internal strength, manifestation -laying in motion, and sensibility as all-common properties of the ma-ter-rii, based on its smallness -shih units - ka-che-st-ven-but different mo-le-cules).

Most of Diderot's artistic prose was not published during his lifetime, but was known in modern times ru-ko-pi-syah. Novel “Mo-na-hi-nya” (“La réli-gi-eu-se”, 1760, published in 1796, ek-ra-ni-za-tion by J. Ri-ve-ta, 1965) , na-pi-san-ny in is-in-a-distant form from the face of de-vush-ki, for-strongly-but-for-chen-in-mo-na-styr, from-the-chen-influence-on-this-ki-sen-ti-men-ta-liz-ma (pre-zh-de-of-all-cre-st-va S. Richard-so- on the). About-li-tea about-the-es-st-ve-ness of mo-na-styr-skaya life, the novel trak-tu-et the desire for freedom as from the beginning the person has his own. Roman-dialogue “Ple-myan-nik Ramo” (“Le neveu de Rameau”, 1762-1793, published in German in the re-vo-de of I.V. Goe-te in 1805, in French - 1823) de-mon-st-ri-ru-et Diderot's critical approach to the enlightened-in-the-stu-la-tam, “co-kra -ti-che-sky” character of his mouse-le-ness, ability to argue with himself. Philosophical novel-dialogue “Jacques le fa-ta-liste” (“Jacques le fa-ta-liste”, 1773, published in German in Pere-vo-de Goe-te in 1792 ; in French - in 1796) ori-ginal-but develops the traditions of L. Stern, from-li-cha-yas no-va-tor-st-vom in-ve-st-vo-va-tive forms, in a miraculous way-vi-ti-em this-same-that, with-what-n-the-games-ry and seriously-ez- no-sti, iron-nii and me-lan-ho-lii. Russian translations of Diderot first appeared in the middle of the 18th century (“Indiscreet s-mo-colors”, 1748, “Mo-na-hi- nya", 1760, and others).

Essays:

Collected works: In 10 volumes; M.; L., 1935-1947; Œuvres complètes. P., 1975-2004-. Vol. 1-25-;

Es-te-ti-ka and li-te-ra-tur-naya cri-ti-ka. M., 1980;

Sa-lo-ny. M., 1989. T. 1-2; Nun. Ple-myan-nik Ra-mo. M., 2006.

Illustration:

D. Did-ro. Portrait of the work of L. M. Van-loo. 1767. Louvre (Paris).