Denis Diderot was born in 1713, in France to a well known cutler. He was educated by the Jesuits, and attended University in Paris although it is unknown if he attended Collège d’Harcourt or Lycée Louis-le-Grand or even both. He received his bachelors in master of arts in 1732 from the University of Paris. He went on to study law in the office of Clément de Ris, but found himself more interested to languages, literature, math and especially philosophy. For awhile he was drawn to a religious career, but ultimately Diderot was swayed away from Roman Catholicism to deism, then atheism and finally philosophical materialism, believing all things to be made of matter, and that all phenomena including thought and consciousness to be the product of material interaction.
In 1745 Diderot was approached by André Le Breton, with the idea of translating Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia into French. As Diderot began translating the book with his coeditor, Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, he found himself driven by the concept of changing the book into a compilation of facts, ideas and knowledge of all things, Diderot especially wanted this new version of the book to be totally available to the public. The ideal tome …show more content…
His work Lettre sur les aveugles would be the founding of Louise Braille’s system of reading and writing for the blind and visually impaired. He made very little money from any of his works and in 1765 he put his library up for sale in order to pay the dowry of his daughter. His friend, Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, a contributor to the Encyclopédie, petitioned to Catherine of Russia on his behalf and she bought his library from him while allowing his to keep the books and hiring him as her official
In 1745 Diderot was approached by André Le Breton, with the idea of translating Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia into French. As Diderot began translating the book with his coeditor, Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, he found himself driven by the concept of changing the book into a compilation of facts, ideas and knowledge of all things, Diderot especially wanted this new version of the book to be totally available to the public. The ideal tome …show more content…
His work Lettre sur les aveugles would be the founding of Louise Braille’s system of reading and writing for the blind and visually impaired. He made very little money from any of his works and in 1765 he put his library up for sale in order to pay the dowry of his daughter. His friend, Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, a contributor to the Encyclopédie, petitioned to Catherine of Russia on his behalf and she bought his library from him while allowing his to keep the books and hiring him as her official