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The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
Diderot, Denis (dē-drÞ’). A distinguished French philosopher, foremost of the “Encyclopedists”; born at Langres, Oct. 5, 1713; died on July 30, 1784. ‘Philosophic Reflections’—burned by the hangman and therefore widely circulated—and ‘A Skeptic’s Walk’ (1747) were part of a warfare against the Church. In the compilation of the ‘Encyclopedia’ Diderot bore the main burden. He wrote all the articles on technology and industries, besides many of those on points of philosophy, and even on physics and chemistry. He wrote dramas, a novel, ‘The Nun,’ and a dramatic dialogue, ‘Rameau’s Nephew.’ His sketches ‘Little Papers’ are full of kindly humor and of witty narrative. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).