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[[Image:DenisDiderot.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

[[Image:DenisDiderot.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]

'''Denis Diderot''' (1713-1784) was a French [[philosopher]] and leader of the [[Enlightenment]].  A [[polymath]], he contributed in numerous disciplines, including philosophy, literature and art criticism. He speculated on [[free will]] and the attachment to material things.  

'''Denis Diderot''' (1713-1784) was a French intellectual ("[[philosophe]]") and philosopher, and a major organizer leader of the [[Enlightenment]].  A [[polymath]], he contributed in numerous disciplines, including philosophy, literature and art criticism. He speculated on [[free will]] and the attachment to material things.  

He is best known for editing the ''[[Encyclopédie]]'', the great multi-volume French-language [[encyclopedia]] of scientific and social knowledge. He worked on it from 1748 to 1772.

He is best known for editing the ''[[Encyclopédie]]'', the great multi-volume French-language [[encyclopedia]] of scientific and social knowledge. He worked on it from 1748 to 1772, arranging for many of France's greatest experts to contribute to a comprehensive overview of knowledge at a very high level--much higher than than today's well-known encyclopedias.

Diderot held a completely materialistic view of the universe, and believed all human behavior is determined by hereditary means. He therefore warned his fellow philosophers against an overemphasis on mathematics and against the blind optimism that sees in the growth of physical knowledge an automatic social and human progress.  He rejected the [[Idea of Progress]]. In his opinion, the aim of explaining the universe through geometry was doomed to fail. Therefore, he founded his philosophy on experiment and the study of probabilities. He wrote several articles and supplements concerning gambling, mortality rates, and inoculation against smallpox for the ''Encyclopédie.'' There he discreetly but firmly refuted d'Alembert's technical errors and personal positions on probability.  

Diderot held a completely materialistic view of the universe, and believed all human behavior is determined by hereditary. He therefore warned his fellow philosophers against an overemphasis on mathematics and against the blind optimism that sees in the growth of physical knowledge an automatic social and human progress.  He rejected the [[Idea of Progress]]. In his opinion, the aim of explaining the universe through geometry was doomed to fail. Therefore, he founded his philosophy on experiment and the study of probabilities. He wrote several articles and supplements concerning gambling, mortality rates, and inoculation against smallpox for the ''Encyclopédie.'' There he discreetly but firmly refuted d'Alembert's technical errors and personal positions on probability.  

He wrote extensively on the theater;  his understanding of the classical theater is characterized by audience-stage separation, orientation to the universal spectator, and stress on the aesthetics of the theater coming from the actors and the playwright.

He wrote extensively on the theater;  his understanding of the classical theater is characterized by audience-stage separation, orientation to the universal spectator, and stress on the aesthetics of the theater coming from the actors and the playwright.