D diderot biography. Diderot Denis - biography, facts from life, photographs, background information
(1713-1784) - great French educator, materialist philosopher, major ideologist of the revolutionary bourgeoisie of the 18th century, founder and editor of the Encyclopedia. He was subjected to repression for his radical views. Diderot recognizes the objective existence of matter; Matter is eternal, it is inherent in movement. Absolute peace, according to Diderot, is an abstraction; it does not exist in nature.
Space and time are considered by him as objective forms of the existence of matter. Matter is made up of molecules. Each molecule has internal source movements - " intimate power", the outer expression of which is mechanical movement in space. All changes in nature are subject to the law of causality. Natural phenomena are found jt _. inextricable connection with each other, in unity. There is no impassable line between living and nonliving matter; they can mutually transform into each other.
Diderot has a number of elements of a dialectical understanding of the world, in particular on the issue of the evolution of living beings, the connection between changes in species and the conditions of their existence (although in general his materialism, like the materialism of all French philosophers of the 18th century, is mechanistic and metaphysical). The individual forms of living beings, according to Diderot, are in a process of constant change. According to Diderot's teachings, in the development of nature there is a natural continuity, including man; in accordance with it, a classification of creatures should be constructed. “We must begin,” he wrote, “with the classification of creatures, from the inert molecule - if there is one - to the living molecule, microscopic animal, plant animal, animal, human.” Sensation is a property of matter. From Diderot's point of view, all matter has sensitivity.
At the same time, he distinguishes between an inert, hidden form of sensitivity inherent in inorganic nature, and active sensitivity characteristic of organic nature. Thinking itself, according to Diderot, is a developed form of sensitivity of matter. Source human cognition are sensations that arise as a result of the influence of objects and natural phenomena on the senses. Not only sensations, but also complex conclusions and conclusions, according to Diderot, reflect the objective, real interconnection of natural phenomena. He sees the criterion of truth in experience, considering as true ideas that correctly reflect objective material reality, but in general, the understanding of the role of social practice in knowledge remains alien to him.
Diderot is an atheist. He strongly denied the existence of God and criticized philosophical idealism and religious dogmas about the immortality of the soul, free will, etc. Lenin highly valued Diderot for his materialist criticism of subjective idealism (see). Rejecting religious feudal morality, Diderot based the moral behavior of people on the human desire for happiness. He preached a reasonable combination of personal and public interests. Explaining nature materialistically, Diderot, however, remained an idealist in the field of history.
He, like other French materialists of the 18th century, made the nature of the social system dependent on political organization society, which, from his point of view, arises from existing legislation and, ultimately, from the prevailing ideas in society. Like other French materialists, Diderot pinned his hopes for a rational structure of society on the emergence of an enlightened sovereign. But this kingdom of reason was, as Engels put it, the idealized kingdom of the bourgeoisie. In 1773-1774 Diderot visited Russia, where he strongly recommended that Catherine II develop industry and trade, relying on the third estate. As you know, Catherine II did not like Diderot’s plans.
Diderot - a major theorist of aesthetics and literature, author of a number of works of art. In his aesthetic works, he defended the realistic direction in art. His main works: “Thoughts for an Explanation of Nature” (1754), “Ramo’s Nephew” (1762), “Conversation between D’Alembert and Diderot” (1769), “D’Alembert’s Dream” (1769), “Philosophical Foundations of Matter and Motion” (1770) , "Elements of Physiology" (1774-1780).
Denis Diderot (French Denis Diderot; October 5, 1713, Langres, France - July 31, 1784, Paris, France) - French writer, educational philosopher and playwright who founded the Encyclopedia, or Dictionary sciences, arts and crafts" (1751). Foreign honorary member Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1773).
Together with Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, d'Alembert and other encyclopedists, Diderot was the ideologist of the third estate and the creator of those ideas of the Enlightenment Age that prepared minds for the Great French Revolution.
His parents wanted their son to become a priest, so from 1723 to 1728 he was educated at a local Jesuit college, became an abbot in 1726, was distinguished by his religiosity, and led an ascetic lifestyle. In 1728 or 1729, to complete his studies, Diderot came to Paris, choosing either the Jansenist College d'Harcourt or the Jesuit College of Louis the Great (versions vary). There is an opinion that he studied in two at once, and the aggressive confrontation between the two currents led to disappointment in his chosen path. In 1732, Diderot graduated from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris, received a master's degree, but, instead of going to work in accordance with his specialty, he made a choice in favor of a free life and free pursuits.
In 1743 he got married and earned money for his young family by making transfers. During 1743-1748, Diderot's first philosophical works appeared (“Philosophical Thoughts” (1746), “Alleys, or the Skeptic’s Walk” (1747), “Immodest Treasures” (1748), “Letters about the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (1749)) , indicating a transition to the positions of first deism, then atheism and materialism.Diderot was arrested for several months because of his last work.
Denis Diderot gained fame for his many years of hard work on the “Encyclopedia, or Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts” (1751-1780), which systematized the scientific postulates of the time and became a powerful educational tool, a kind of manifesto of the French Enlightenment.
The original plan of the publisher A.F. Le Breton, which arose in the early 40s, assumed an adaptation of an already existing English encyclopedia. However, in the end it was transformed into the release of an independent publication, which Diderot was entrusted to head. For a quarter of a century, he supervised the preparation of 28 volumes, he himself wrote about 6 thousand articles, collaborated with Voltaire, Rousseau, Holbach, Montesquieu, and with recognized specialists in various sciences and arts. The publication of the Encyclopedia was accompanied by various difficulties, but Denis Diderot managed to save his brainchild from closure.
Catherine II offered him to publish the Encyclopedia in Russia, but Diderot refused, continuing to maneuver between dangerous reefs in his homeland. From October 1773 to March 1774 he stayed in Russia at the invitation of the Empress and proposed a draft system for consideration. public education, based on the principles of classlessness and providing for free initial education. Disease gastrointestinal tract put an end to his biography on July 31, 1784, at which time he was in Paris.
XVIII century. He was born on October 5, 1713 in Langres and was the son of a cutler; died in 1784. In Paris, he studied philosophy, mathematics, physics, art, and became friends with prominent representatives modern movements. For his refusal to study any specialty (at first Diderot was a theologian, then a lawyer), he lost his father’s support and became a writer. From national writers greatest influence the skeptic turned on him Bayle. Diderot found similar elements in the works of English sensualists and freethinkers.
Portrait of Denis Diderot. Artist L. M. van Loo, 1767
He began with translations: in 1743 he published a translation of Stanian’s “History of Greece”, in 1745 “An Essay on Merit and Virtue” (a free translation of the work of the same name Shaftesbury). His tendency towards opposition was expressed in these works in the fact that he took the side of revelation against the preachers of the natural religion of reason and defended its possibility. Diderot expresses a reverse attitude towards the religiosity that prevailed in France already in “Philosophical Thoughts” (The Hague, 1746) and even more so in “The Skeptic’s Walk,” written in 1747 but confiscated before publication. The first of these works, in which Parliament saw an attack on Christianity, was, by his order, burned by the hand of the executioner and that is why it created an extraordinary sensation. The second was published only much later, after Diderot’s death, in the 4th volume of his Memoirs, Letters and Unpublished Works (Paris, 1830). The doubts about theism expressed in these writings from the point of view deism, give way to doubt about deism itself, which, in the works that soon followed - “Introduction aux grands principes”, “Letter on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” (London, 1749), “Letter on the Deaf and Dumb” (1751) - brought upon him for obvious atheism, a year's imprisonment in Vincennes.
Denis Diderot. Video
In the Encyclopedia, published since 1751, Diderot contributed not only all the articles on technology and crafts, but also some philosophical and even many physical and chemical ones, since his versatile education came to the rescue wherever there was a shortage of collaborators. He expressed his theories about the theater, which he wanted to free from enslavement to the dead rules of classicism, in practice in two dramas: “ Illegitimate son"(1757) and "The Father of the Family" (1758). Both of these plays, which should have been more exemplary examples than free works, and which, due to their sentimentality and pedantic morality, suffered complete failure, were the predecessors of the so-called “philistine drama.” However, they found more imitators in Germany (Ifland, Kotzebue) than in France. An excellent idea of Diderot’s versatility is given by his “Salons” - reports on the exhibitions of the Paris Academy of 1765-67, in which he, in witty essays, makes fidelity to nature the main requirement, so that for this type of artistic criticism, Diderot can be considered the founder. Most of his novels and stories, with the exception of “Indiscreet Jewels” (1748), were published only posthumously. The weakest of them is “Jacques the Fatalist”, and the best, despite its too harsh naturalism, is the novel “The Nun” (“La Religieuse”); The most famous is Rameau's Nephew. The small genre sketches he entitled “Petits papiers” are real pearls of cute humor and witty, talented presentation.
Diderot's financial situation at this time was poor. He was about to sell his library to provide a dowry for his daughter, when the Russian Empress Catherine II, an enthusiastic admirer of this writer, rescued him from his difficulties in the most generous and delicate way: she bought his library for 15,000 livres, leaving it to him in charge for life with a salary of 1,000 livres , and ordered to pay him a salary for 50 years in advance. Then she invited him to St. Petersburg, where he spent the winter at court near the empress, until his health, upset by the harsh climate, required his return to his homeland. Having rejected Frederick II's offer to visit Berlin, he traveled through Holland and conveyed his impressions in the book “Travel to Holland.” Returning to Paris, tirelessly active until his death, Diderot died, as he had lived, as a philosopher, and was buried in the Church of Saint Roch.
According to Goethe, Diderot was a writer who was more eager to fight antiquity and to revolution than to create something new. Acting promptly in all areas, in none of them did he exhaust the subject to the very root. He himself said about himself that he could only write individual “pages.” Without working for magazines, Diderot was the first journalist of his time, a virtuoso of words in oral speech and in writing, transferring into literature the liveliness of conversation, in which he was a master, and therefore preferred the form of writing or dialogue to any other. As a result, his style has a charm that Goethe called “fascinating.” Even his most profound philosophical reflections, like “Conversation with D'Alembert" and "The Dream of D'Alembert" (both 1769), he made, in their clarity and elation, examples of artistic rhetoric.
Diderot's philosophical development went through a series of metamorphoses that led him from theism to deism, and from deism to atheism and materialism. At least in the works that represent the most complete expression of his metaphysical views, he ascribes to all matter the ability of sensation, thus giving it a higher spiritual essence. In his essay “Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature” (1754), Diderot puts atoms in place of Leibniz’s monads, and just as the former contain dormant ideas, so, according to Diderot, atoms are based on associated sensations. The latter become conscious in the animal organism; From sensations comes thinking. His atheism is expressed in the words that the enormous musical instrument, which we call the world, plays on itself, without the help of a musician. However, he recognizes the divine in the law of nature, in truth, beauty and goodness.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) is one of the most prominent French materialists of the 18th century. Like all representatives of this movement, Diderot was a materialist from below (in the explanation of nature) and an idealist from above (in the interpretation of social phenomena). He recognized the materiality of the world, considered movement inseparable from matter, the world knowable, and resolutely opposed religion.
Standing on the position of materialistic sensationalism, Diderot considered sensations to be the source of knowledge. But unlike Helvetius, he did not reduce the complex process of cognition to them, but recognized that its second stage is the processing of sensations by the mind. He also believed that “opinions rule the world,” and mistakenly associated the possibility of reorganizing society not with revolution, but with the publication of wise laws and the spread of education, correct upbringing. He outlined his thoughts on education mainly in the work “Systematic Refutation of Helvetius’s Book “On Man.”
Diderot rejected Helvetius's assertion about the omnipotence of education and the absence of individual natural differences among people. He sought to limit the extreme conclusions to which Helvetius came. Thus, Diderot wrote: “He (Helvetius) says: Education means everything.
Say: Education means a lot.
He says: Organization means nothing.
Say: Organization matters less than is commonly thought...
He says: Education is the only source of difference between people
Say: This is one of the main sources.”
Recognizing that much can be achieved with the help of education, Diderot noted the importance of his physical organization and his anatomical and physiological characteristics for the formation of a person. He also did not agree with Helvetius's position that thinking can be reduced to the ability to sense. Mental operations depend, according to Diderot, on a certain state and brain organization. People have, he said, different natural inclinations and characteristics; The natural organization and physiological characteristics of people predispose their natural inclinations to development, but their manifestation depends entirely on social reasons, including upbringing. Diderot rightly believed that the teacher would be able to achieve great results if he strives to develop the positive inclinations inherent in the child and suppress the bad ones. Diderot's call to take into account natural features! child, developing his individuality deserves a positive assessment.
Diderot correctly argued that all people, not just a select few, are endowed with favorable inclinations by nature. Moreover, he said that people from the people are much more likely to be bearers of genius and talents than representatives of the nobility: “The number of huts and other private dwellings is to the number of palaces as ten thousand are to one, and accordingly with this we have ten thousand chances against . one for the fact that genius, talent and virtue are more likely to come out of the walls of a hut than from the walls of a palace.” The vicious social system, according to Diderot, deprives the children of the people of good upbringing and education and is the cause of the death of many hidden talents. The great educator advocated for universal, free primary education “from the first minister to the last peasant,” so that everyone could read, write and count. He proposed to remove schools from the jurisdiction of the church and transfer them to the hands of the state; who should take care of the accessibility of the school, organize material assistance for the children of the poor, free food, etc. Protesting against the class organization of education, Diderot wrote that the doors of schools should be “equally open to all children of the people... because it would be just as cruel as it is absurd to condemn one to ignorance. people occupying a lower position in society.”
Diderot rebelled against the dominance of classical education in schools and brought real knowledge to the fore; in high school, he believed, all students should study mathematics, physics and natural Sciences, as well as humanitarian subjects.
Paying great attention to the teacher, Diderot demanded that he deeply know the subject he was teaching, be modest, honest and have other high moral qualities. He offered to create good material conditions for the teacher and take care of him in case of illness or disability.
The pedagogical views of the French materialists of the 18th century, inextricably linked with their philosophical concept, reflected the demands of the bourgeoisie in the field of education on the eve of the revolution of 1789. They found their expression in the most advanced projects for the organization of public education, created during the period of the French bourgeois revolution, and were further developed on a different social basis by the utopian socialists.
His works were met with hostility by the authorities. As soon as his work “Letters on the Blind for the Edification of the Sighted” was published, Diderot was arrested. After his release from prison, he devoted all his energy to preparing for the publication of the Encyclopedia of Sciences, Arts and Crafts. The encyclopedia, around which he gathered the entire flower of the then bourgeois intelligentsia, played a huge role in the ideological preparation of the bourgeois French revolution.
Of all the French materialist philosophers, Diderot was the most consistent: he passionately defended the idea of the indestructibility of matter, the eternity of life, and the great role of science.
Diderot attached great importance sensations, however, he did not reduce cognition to them, but rightly pointed out that the processing of sensations by the mind is of great importance. The senses are only witnesses, while judgment is the result of the activity of the mind based on the data received from them.
Diderot highly valued the role of education, but in his objections to Helvetius he did not consider education to be omnipotent. He wrote in the form of a dialogue the famous “Systematic Refutation of Helvetius’s Book of Man” (1773-1774).
Here is one typical passage:
“Helvetius. I regarded intelligence, genius, and virtue as the product of education.
Diderot. Just education?
Helvetius. This idea still seems true to me.
Diderot. It is false, and because of this it can never be proven in a completely convincing way.
Helvetius. They agreed with me that education has a greater influence on the genius and character of people and nations than was thought.
Diderot. And that’s all I could agree with you on.”
Diderot decisively refutes Helvetius's position that education can do everything. He believes that much can be achieved through education, but education develops what nature has given the child. Through education, it is possible to develop good natural inclinations and suppress bad ones, but only if education takes into account the physical organization of a person and his natural characteristics.
Diderot's position on the importance of the natural differences of people in their development, on the need to take into account the peculiarities of the child's physical organization and psyche in education deserve a positive assessment. However, due to the limitations of French materialist philosophy of the 18th century, Diderot mistakenly views human nature as something unchangeable and abstract. Meanwhile, as the founders of Marxism subsequently established, human nature changes in the course of historical development, people change their own nature in the process of revolutionary practice.
Diderot believed that not only the elite have good natural inclinations; on the contrary, he argued that the people are much more often the bearers of talents than representatives of the nobility.
“The number of huts and other private dwellings,” wrote Diderot, “is related to the number of palaces as ten thousand are to one, and accordingly we have ten thousand chances against one that genius, talent and virtue are more likely to emerge from the walls of a hut, rather than from the walls of a palace."
At the same time, Diderot rightly stated that quite often the talents hidden in the masses of the people perish, since the bad social system deprives the children of the people of proper upbringing and education. He was a supporter of the education of the broad masses and recognized its enormous liberating role. According to Diderot, "Enlightenment gives man dignity, and the slave will immediately feel that he was not born for slavery."
Just like Helvetius, Diderot strongly criticized the French feudal system of education, emphasizing that primary schools in the hands of the clergy neglected the education of children from the people, and privileged secondary schools of the classical type instilled only an aversion to the sciences and gave insignificant results. The entire system of education and upbringing is unsuitable, “it is necessary to change the method of public education to the very foundation.”
It is necessary that all children study in schools, regardless of their social class. Schools should be removed from the jurisdiction of the clergy and made public. Primary education should be free and compulsory, and public catering should be provided in schools. The children of the poor know the value of education better than the rich. Diderot demanded a decisive restructuring high school. He opposed the dominance of classical education in secondary schools, considered it necessary to ensure that they taught mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural science, and astronomy on a scientific basis, and insisted on the implementation of real education.
In 1773, Diderot, at the invitation of Catherine II, traveled to St. Petersburg and lived there for about a year. As you know, Catherine at that time played the role of an “enlightened figure” and patron of persecuted philosophers.
In 1775, Diderot drew up a plan for organizing public education in Russia on a new basis, called the “University Plan for Russia” (meaning the entire system of public education by university). Catherine, of course, had no intention of implementing Diderot’s plan; it was too radical.
Diderot is a famous French writer, educational philosopher and playwright. Read below short biography Denis Diderot.
Denis Diderot was born in France, in the city of Langres, on October 5, 1713. Became the founder of one of the largest reference publications The 18th century, which many believe set the stage for the 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 in 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.
Talking about creative biography Denis Diderot, it should be separately noted 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 survey current state 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 on the Blind. Both Letters proceeded from Locke's theory, which Diderot and his Enlightenment friends considered 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.
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