Encyclopedia of Diderot and D’Alembert: Contextual and Critical Understanding

Abstract

The Encyclopedia of Diderot and D’Alembert is not only one of the most important monuments of philosophical thought of the Enlightenment, but also a significant socio-political event of that time. The study of the filiation of ideas in the 18th century shows that the work of the French Enlighteners is not the first work to generalize and structure the accumulated knowledge of mankind, but the totality of socio-philosophical reasons gives it the greatest importance. Comparative historical analysis also shows that the collective work of the encyclopedists pursued not only educational goals, but also partly served as a platform for the promotion of new ideas, and the achievement of the task – the radical reform of the socio-political world order. It is worth noting that at the same time, contradictions often arose between a purely scientific approach and the popularization of the views of the French Enlighteners, which led to a distortion of the picture of the world created by encyclopedists, and gave grounds for a critical understanding of their concept.