Diderot and the art of thinking freely / Andrew S. Curran.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Curran, Andrew S., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784.

Diderot, Denis.

Philosophers--France--Biography.

Philosophers.

France.

Local Subjects:

Diderot, Denis, 1713-1784.

Philosophers--France--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

Nonfiction.

Physical Description:

520 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Other Press, [2019]

Summary:

"A vivacious biography of the prophetic and sympathetic philosopher who along with Voltaire and Rousseau built the foundations of the modern world, and travelled as far as Russia to enlighten the Tsarina Catherine the Great. Denis Diderot is often associated with the decades-long battle to bring the world's first comprehensive Encyclopédie into existence. But his most compelling and personal writing took place in the shadows. Thrown into prison for his atheism in 1749, Diderot decided to reserve his most daring books for posterity-for us, in fact. In the astonishing cache of unpublished writings that he left behind after his death, Diderot dreamed of natural selection before Darwin, the Oedipus complex before Freud, and genetic manipulation centuries before Dolly the Sheep was born. Even more audaciously, the writer challenged virtually all of his century's accepted truths, from the sanctity of monarchy, to the racial justification of slave trade, to the limits of human sexuality. He was also keenly aware of the dangers of absolute power, about which he wrote so persuasively that it led Catherine the Great not only to support him financially but also to invite him to St. Petersburg. In this thematically organized biography, Andrew Curran vividly describes Diderot's tormented relationship with Rousseau, his feud with Voltaire, his tortured marriage, his passionate affairs, and his often-paradoxical stand on art, morality, and religion. But what this book brings out most brilliantly is how a man's character flaws and limitations are often the flip side of his genius and his ability to break taboos, dogmas, and conventions"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Abbot from Langres

Leaving God

A philosophe in prison

The enlightenment bible

The Encyclopédie hair shirt

On virtue and vice

On art : Diderot at the Louvre

On the origin of species

The sexologist

On love

A voyage to Russia, politics, philosophy, and Catherine the Great

Last words : speaking to despots and American insurgents

Walking between two eternities.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Curran, Andrew S. Diderot and the art of thinking freely.

ISBN:

9781590516706

1590516702

OCLC:

1032349905