Dialogue between d’Alembert and Diderot

Denis Diderot

May 2024 · The Complete Works of Denis Diderot Book 15 · Marchen Press

About this ebook

The Dialogue (or interview) between d’Alembert and Diderot, in the original French "Entretien entre d’Alembert et Diderot" (also known as "Le Rêve de d’Alembert") was written by Diderot in 1769. These dialogues meander through materialist philosophy, biology, and the nature of consciousness and mimic Voltair's famous dialogues. Though written in the late 1760s, they were not published until after Diderot’s death, due to their radical content—Le Rêve de d’Alembert first appeared posthumously in 1830. This modern translation comes from and edition published in 1875 by Garnier as part of the Œuvres complètes de Diderot, volume II, prepared by editors J. Assézat and M. Tourneux, and played a significant role in shaping modern reception of Diderot’s philosophical writings, which remained largely unpublished during his lifetime due to their controversial content and difficulty in preparing the handwritten notes for formal publication. It is part of a trilogy of philosophical dialogues that includes: "Entretien entre d’Alembert et Diderot" (1769) "Le Rêve de d’Alembert" (d'Alembert’s Dream) "Suite de l'entretien" (Continuation of the Conversation) This is a classic Enlightenment dialogue in which Denis Diderot articulates a materialist and evolutionary view of nature through a fictional exchange with mathematician Jean le Rond d’Alembert. Structured in three parts—Entretien, Le Rêve de d’Alembert, and Suite de l’entretien—the work presents a provocative challenge to Cartesian dualism, proposing instead that thought arises from matter and that all living beings are interconnected through a continuous, dynamic process of transformation- an Epicurean-Heracletian hybrid metaphysics which would be mimicked by the German Materialists such as Feuerbach and Marx. Diderot’s ideas resonated more in Germany than in France, where his works were overshadowed by Voltaire and Rousseau. In Germany, Lessing’s translation of his works sparked a literary revolution. Goethe, Schiller, Iffland, and Kotzebue drew heavily on his principles, which aligned better with Germanic sensibilities than French tastes. This modern edition contains a new Epilogue by the translator, a glossary of Philosophical Terms used by Diderot, a chronology of his core life and works, and a summary index of all of Diderot's works. With a clean, modern translation of Diderot's Enlightenment-era French, this edition brings Diderot's thoughts directly into the modern intellectual sphere, tracing the intellectual forces which swept along Diderot and impacted today's secular world.

About the author

Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer who became one of the most influential intellectual figures of the Enlightenment. Born to a family of craftsmen in Langres, France, Diderot rose to prominence as co-founder and chief editor of the Encyclopédie, a monumental 28-volume compilation of knowledge that challenged religious authority and promoted rational inquiry. Despite facing censorship and imprisonment for his controversial materialist views, Diderot produced an impressive body of work spanning philosophy, literature, and art criticism, including notable writings such as "Letter on the Blind," "Rameau's Nephew," and "D'Alembert's Dream." His radical ideas on materialism, determinism, and natural selection anticipated later scientific developments, while his experimental approach to literature—featuring open-ended dialogues and unreliable narrators—presaged modern literary techniques. Though many of his most daring philosophical works were published posthumously due to their controversial nature, Diderot's legacy as a champion of intellectual freedom and rational inquiry remains a cornerstone of Western philosophical tradition.