Diderot (France 1713-1784)
The "Encyclopedia" cultivated a whole generation of new people in France. The materialism contained in the book is based on its two This or that form of form—overt materialism or deism—became the creed of all educated youth in France. Its influence was so great that when the Revolution broke out, this book actually gave the French revolutionaries a theoretical banner. ——Engels Voltaire once told an anecdote in his memoirs: King Louis XV of France talked about gunpowder with his ministers at a banquet, but no one could explain the composition of gunpowder. Minister Valier said: "So it is a pity that your Majesty has ordered the ban of the "Encyclopedia". If we have this book, we can find what we need right away." So the king sent someone to fetch the "Encyclopedia" ”, the king and princes and ministers were surprised to find that everything they wanted to know could be found in this book. One earl praised: "How lucky you are, Your Majesty, that under your rule there are people who can study all fields of knowledge and pass them on to future generations. Everything can be found in this book." The main content of this great work The author is Diderot, the French Enlightenment thinker known as the "Father of the Encyclopedia".
France in the 18th century was an era of enlightenment. In the long historical process that lasted for nearly a century, Enlightenment thinkers held high the banner of rationality and democracy and focused on criticizing feudal autocracy and religious oppression. Diderot, who was born as a commoner, as the leader of the "Encyclopedia School", united a large number of Enlightenment thinkers, who fought bravely and enlightened the people's wisdom for the freedom, equality and happiness of society. The "Encyclopedia", known as "the book of books", "the summary of human knowledge", "the summary of philosophy and all sciences", is the crystallization of this great movement. In people's minds, the Encyclopedia is always associated with the name of its compiler, Diderot.
Diderot's contribution and achievements in the French Enlightenment and the history of human thought in the 18th century are also inseparable from the compilation and publication of the "Encyclopedia" and its progressive role and huge influence. The compilation and publication of this masterpiece was extremely difficult at the time. The feudal rulers and religious circles regarded it as a scourge and launched a massive campaign. Diderot, its chief creator, was also brutally persecuted. Therefore Diderot once said: "Only in an era like his, the era of philosophers, could it be possible to write such an encyclopedia, because it requires people to have greater courage than in an era of timidity that only pays attention to elegance. "In more than 20 long years, Diderot managed the business in a miserable way and went through many hardships to turn the "Encyclopedia" into an important ideological position to promote scientific truth and oppose religious superstition and feudal autocracy, and Diderot himself was in During this struggle, he became the spiritual leader of the French progressive ideological circle with the "Encyclopedia School" as the core. Diderot and his immortal masterpieces are also listed as one of the most dazzling treasures in human history.