Denis Diderot ( ; October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert.
Diderot also contributed to literature, notably with Jacques le fataliste et son maître (Jacques the Fatalist and his Master), which emulated Laurence Sterne in challenging conventions regarding novels and their structure and content, while also examining philosophical ideas about free will. Diderot is also known as the author of the dialogue, Le Neveu de Rameau (Rameau's Nephew), upon which many articles and sermons about consumer desire have been based.
Read more about Denis Diderot: Life and Death, Early Works, Encyclopédie, Other Works, Philosophy, Historiography, Bibliography
Famous quotes by denis diderot:
“There is not a Musselman alive who would not imagine that he was performing an action pleasing to God and his Holy Prophet by exterminating every Christian on earth, while the Christians are scarcely more tolerant on their side.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“Shakespeare’s fault is not the greatest into which a poet may fall. It merely indicates a deficiency of taste.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“Jacques said that his master said that everything good or evil we encounter here below was written on high.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)