Diderot and the Encyclopædists (Vol 1 of 2) | Page 2

Letter on Deaf Mutes

(1751) Condillac's Statue Diderot imprisoned at Vincennes (1749)
Rousseau's visit to him Breach with Madame de Puisieux Diderot
released from captivity
CHAPTER V.
THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA. (1) ITS HISTORY.
Previous examples of the Encyclopædic idea True parentage of
Diderot's Encyclopædia Origin of the undertaking Co-operation of
D'Alembert: his history and character Diderot and D'Alembert on the
function of literature Presiding characteristic of the Encyclopædia Its
more eminent contributors The unsought volunteers Voltaire's share in
it Its compliance with reigning prejudice Its aim, not literature but life
Publication of first and second volumes (1751-52) Affair of De Prades
Diderot's vindication of him (1752) Marks rupture between the
Philosophers and the Jansenists Royal decree suppressing first two
volumes (1752) Failure of the Jesuits to carry on the work Four more
volumes published The seventh volume (1757) Arouses violent
hostility The storm made fiercer by Helvétius's L'Esprit Proceedings
against the Encyclopædia Their significance They also mark singular
reaction within the school of Illumination Retirement of D'Alembert
Diderot continues the work alone for seven years His harassing
mortifications The Encyclopædia at Versailles Reproduction and
imitations Diderot's payment
(2) GENERAL CONTENTS.
Transformation of a speculative into a social attack Circumstances of
practical opportuneness Broad features of Encyclopædic revolution
Positive spirit of the Encyclopædia Why we call it the organ of a
political work Articles on Agriculture On the Gabelle and the Taille On
Privilege On the Corveée On the Militia On Endowments, Fairs, and
Industrial Guilds On Game and the Chase Enthusiasm for the details of
industry Meaning of the importance assigned to industry and science
Intellectual side of the change Attitude of the Encyclopædia to religion
Diderot's intention under this head How far the scheme fulfilled his

intention The Preliminary Discourse Recognition of the value of
discussion And of toleration
(3) DIDEROT'S CONTRIBUTIONS.
Their immense confusion Constant insinuation of sound doctrines And
of practical suggestions Diderot not always above literary trifling No
taste for barren erudition On Montaigne and Bayle Occasional bursts of
moralising Varying attitude as to theology The practical arts
Second-hand sources Inconsistencies Treatment of metaphysics On
Spinosa On Leibnitz On Liberty Astonishing self-contradiction
Political articles On the mechanism of government Anticipation of
Cobdenic ideas Conclusion
CHAPTER VI.
SOCIAL LIFE (1759-1770).
Diderot's relations with Madame Voland His letters to her His Regrets
on My Old Dressing-gown Domestic discomfort His indomitable
industry Life at Grandval Meditations on human existence Interest in
the casuistry of human feeling Various sayings A point in rhetoric
Holbach's impressions of England Two cases of conscience A story of
human wickedness Method and Genius: an Apologue Conversation
Annihilation Characteristic of the century Diderot's inexhaustible
friendliness The Abbé Monnier Mademoiselle Jodin Landois Rousseau
Grimm Diderot's money affairs Succour rendered by Catherine of
Russia French booksellers in the eighteenth century Dialogue between
Diderot and D'Alembert English opinion on Diderot's circle
CHAPTER VII.
THE STAGE.
In what sense Diderot the greatest genius of the century Mark of his
theory of the drama Diderot's influence on Lessing His play, The
Natural Son (1757) Its quality illustrated His sense of the importance of
pantomime The dialogues appended to The Natural Son His second

play, The Father of the Family (1758) One radical error of his dramatic
doctrine Modest opinion of his own experiments His admiration for
Terence Diderot translates Moore's Gamester On Shakespeare The
Paradox on the Player Account of Garrick On the truth of the stage His
condemnation of the French classic stage The foundations of dramatic
art Diderot claims to have created a new kind of drama No Diderotian
school Why the Encyclopædists could not replace the classic drama
The great drama of the eighteenth century
CHAPTER VIII.
"RAMEAU'S NEPHEW."
The mood that inspired this composition History of the text Various
accounts of the design of Rameau's Nephew Juvenal's Parasite Lucian
Diderot's picture of his original Not without imaginative strokes More
than a literary diversion Sarcasms on Palissot The musical controversy

DIDEROT.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY.
There was a moment in the last century when the Gallican church
hoped for a return of internal union and prosperity. This brief era of
hope coincided almost exactly with the middle of the century. Voltaire
was in exile at Berlin. The author of the Persian Letters and the Spirit
of Laws was old and near his end. Rousseau was copying music in a
garret. The Encyclopædia was looked for, but only as a literary project
of some associated booksellers. The Jansenists, who had been so many
in number and so firm in spirit five-and-twenty years earlier, had now
sunk to a small minority of the French clergy. The great ecclesiastical
body at length offered an unbroken front to its rivals, the great judicial
bodies. A patriotic minister was indeed audacious enough to propose a
tax upon ecclesiastical property, but the Church fought the battle and

won.