Denis Diderot
1713 – 1784 French philosopher, writer
The driving force behind the Encyclopedie, monument of the Enlightenment.
- Religion
- Moved from Catholicism through deism to atheism and materialism, one of the boldest unbelievers of his age.
- Affiliations
- Chief editor of the Encyclopedie. No confirmed secret society membership.
Diderot edited the great Encyclopedie, a vast collaborative work that gathered and spread the knowledge and skeptical spirit of the age. He wrote philosophy, fiction, and art criticism, often too radical to publish in his lifetime. He championed reason, science, and materialism against church and crown.