DIDEROT, DENIS. – Philosopher, born at Langres (Champagne) on 5 October 1713, died at Paris on 30 July 1784. Destined by his father for the ecclesiastical state, he attended the Jesuit college in his native city, but was withdrawn from it in order to put an end to certain inclinations toward the novitiate. Having completed his studies in Paris and rejected every profession, he devoted himself to study, chiefly of mathematics and the sciences. He had only worked on a few translations when, at the age of 33, he was chosen as editor of a publication that, in his hands and with the collaboration of D'Alembert, Encyclopédie (v.), one of the most significant events of the eighteenth century. The revolutionary and antireligious spirit of the work, which already found a response in the prevailing state of minds, contributed powerfully to preparing the outbreak of 1789. D. worked on it until the end, that is, from 1746 to 1772. He received pensions from Frederick II and Catherine II.
D.'s activity as a writer was not exhausted in the Encyclopédie. In addition to the various works he published, many of his writings, intended for publication abroad, were issued posthumously: mostly brief essays, stories, and dialogues, written with brilliance and filled with the spirit of the Encyclopédie. D.'s style is a model of vitality and spontaneity, but lacks sobriety: one of his most original works, Le neveu de Rameau, was translated by Goethe. His Salons represent a valuable contribution to art criticism.
Notable among his philosophical works are: Pensées philosophiques (1746); Lettre sur les aveugles (1749); Interprétation de la nature (1759); and, posthumously, Le rêve de d'Alembert; Supplément au voyage de Bougainville. Initially-
