Diderot is important to the philosophical canon as he is an influential voice and interpreter of the French Enlightenment. The work of the Encyclopedia has given insight to the philosophical thought in this time, interpreting for us the overlaying character of the Enlightenment in terms of dialectics, art, and materialism. Yet Diderot is not only a great figure in understanding the enlightenment period. His thoughts, like most philosophers, have been inherited, interpreted, and refuted in the works of later philosophers, poets, critics and writers. For this, Diderot is not only a voice of the enlightenment, but a voice that echoes strongly into the present day, being a voice which presupposes and molds the way that we interact with philosophical texts.
He deserves a place on the syllabus not only for his contribution to philosophical thought, but particularly because of the wide dynamic of his work. He was a philosopher who delved into many fields, writing on visual art, physiology, morality and creative literature. He not only shaped the wide variety of fields he delved into, but interpreted each field’s motives, progress and shortfalls in the time of the Enlightenment. This allows for a unique insight into understanding the intellectual climate at this time, and how theories change and connect across fields.
Most interesting however, is Diderot’s great branch between philosophy and art. Being a creative writer with important philosophical commentaries, Diderot holds a unique view into aesthetic theory, one which has been important in later theories of art. He knew well that art had its own connections to reason, to materialism, and to knowledge itself. This connection is a refreshing and engaging perspective, allowing us to understand philosophical concepts not only in their theoretical sense, but to also understand them through engaging, artistic interpretation.