Denis Diderot essay
Research Question: In what ways did new ideas and institutions challenge established authority in eighteenth-century France?
Saajan Patel
Moyer pd. B
During early 18th century France and late 17th century France there were people called Enlightenment thinkers such as Denis Diderot that created new ideas to spread knowledge. Denis Diderot created the Encyclopedia during the enlightenment. By doing this he made more people know about the enlightenment ideas, which challenged established authority in France during this time.
All the greatest enlightenment thinkers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, John Locke, and several others challenged authority with new ideas. The only problem was spreading the word about these new ideas. That is how Denis Diderot helped. He created an Encyclopedia to write all these ideas in one place so everyone could see these ideas (Furbank 72). He set up a big set of books of ideas that revolutionized society. There was so much information in it, that it took him 20 years to complete it! (John Patrick Michael Murphy). He had the enlightenment thinkers themselves write their own articles on their ideas for it to be as accurate as possible. These ideas that were created by the philosophes, took away divine right from the king. If things just happened because they happened, then god did not control a lot of things. Once, people of the French society found out that everything could be figured out with a mathematical equation it took away a lot of power from the king. Divine right was no longer completely true to people because god did not control everything anymore. “Hence publication was from time to time impeded by the French authorities” (Andreas Teuber). Dennis Diderot’s Encyclopedia indirectly challenged established authority in France during and after the Enlightenment.
Saajan Patel
Moyer pd. B
During early 18th century France and late 17th century France there were people called Enlightenment thinkers such as Denis Diderot that created new ideas to spread knowledge. Denis Diderot created the Encyclopedia during the enlightenment. By doing this he made more people know about the enlightenment ideas, which challenged established authority in France during this time.
All the greatest enlightenment thinkers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, John Locke, and several others challenged authority with new ideas. The only problem was spreading the word about these new ideas. That is how Denis Diderot helped. He created an Encyclopedia to write all these ideas in one place so everyone could see these ideas (Furbank 72). He set up a big set of books of ideas that revolutionized society. There was so much information in it, that it took him 20 years to complete it! (John Patrick Michael Murphy). He had the enlightenment thinkers themselves write their own articles on their ideas for it to be as accurate as possible. These ideas that were created by the philosophes, took away divine right from the king. If things just happened because they happened, then god did not control a lot of things. Once, people of the French society found out that everything could be figured out with a mathematical equation it took away a lot of power from the king. Divine right was no longer completely true to people because god did not control everything anymore. “Hence publication was from time to time impeded by the French authorities” (Andreas Teuber). Dennis Diderot’s Encyclopedia indirectly challenged established authority in France during and after the Enlightenment.