Denis Diderot

Introduction & Top Questions
Youth and marriage
Mature career
The Encyclopédie
Novels, dialogues, and plays
Late life and works

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

Dimitry Levitzky: portrait of Denis Diderot

A vintage encyclopedia page shows small type and scientific illustrations. The question What was Enlightenment? is written in old-fashioned blue lettering.

At a Glance

Denis Diderot summary

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Agathon (centre) greeting guests in "Plato's Symposium" oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Philosophy 101

Related Questions

How did An Essay on Blindness anticipate Louis Braille’s method of reading by touch?
How did Denis Diderot respond to the censorship of his Encyclopédie articles?
How did Denis Diderot’s idea of the fourth wall change theatrical realism?
How did Denis Diderot’s religious beliefs change during his life?
How did Helvétius’ book De l’esprit create problems for the Encyclopédie?
How did government censorship affect publication of the Encyclopédie?
How did the Encyclopédie grow beyond a French translation of Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia?
How did the Encyclopédie help challenge religious and political orthodoxy?
How did the Encyclopédie spread Enlightenment ideas in France?
How does Rameau’s Nephew criticize the hypocrisy of French society?
How does Supplement to Bougainville’s Voyage discuss sexual freedom and tolerance?
How long was Denis Diderot imprisoned at Vincennes?
How many text volumes and illustration volumes were in Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie?
What did André Le Breton secretly remove from the Encyclopédie proofs?
What happens in Denis Diderot’s novel The Nun?
What kind of theatre did Denis Diderot support in his writings on drama?
What kind of work did Denis Diderot’s father do in Langres?
When and where did Denis Diderot die?
When and where was Denis Diderot born?
When were the text and illustration volumes of the Encyclopédie published?
Where did Denis Diderot study before receiving his master of arts degree?
Which English writer’s work did Denis Diderot translate in 1745?
Who inspired the character in Denis Diderot’s Rameau’s Nephew?
Who was Antoinette Champion and when did Denis Diderot marry her?
Who was Sophie Volland in Denis Diderot’s life?
Why did Denis Diderot become disillusioned with enlightened despotism?
Why did Denis Diderot believe great actors should not actually feel the emotions they portray?
Why did Denis Diderot not enter the church after being tonsured?
Why did Denis Diderot often present philosophical ideas as dialogues?
Why did Denis Diderot refuse Voltaire’s proposal to publish the Encyclopédie outside France?
Why did French church and government officials oppose the Encyclopédie?
Why did Jean Le Rond d’Alembert resign as coeditor of the Encyclopédie?
Why was Denis Diderot arrested after publishing An Essay on Blindness?
Why was Denis Diderot’s marriage to Antoinette Champion kept secret?
Why is Denis Diderot significant?
What was Denis Diderot’s early life like?
How did Denis Diderot die?
Where was Simone de Beauvoir educated?
What did Simone de Beauvoir write?
Who was Victor Hugo?
What is Victor Hugo remembered for?
How did Molière begin his career in theatre?
How did Molière die?
Why is Charles Dickens important?

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External Websites

World History Encyclopedia - Denis Diderot
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Biography of Denis Diderot
Web Gallery of Art - Diderot, Denis (1713-1784)
Humanists UK - Denis Diderot
Libertarianism.org - Biography of Denis Diderot

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Denis Diderot - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Denis Diderot

French philosopher

Written by

Robert Niklaus

Emeritus Professor of French, University of Exeter, England. Author of A Literary History of France: The Eighteenth Century; editor of Diderot's Pensées philosophiques; Lettre sur les aveugles.

Robert Niklaus

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 1, 2026 •History

Denis Diderot (born October 5, 1713, Langres, France—died July 31, 1784, Paris) was a French man of letters and philosopher who, from 1745 to 1772, served as chief editor of the Encyclopédie, one of the principal works of the Age of Enlightenment. Diderot was the son of a widely respected master cutler. He was tonsured in 1726, though he did not in fact enter the church, and was first educated by the Jesuits at Langres....

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