Diderot And The Art Of Thinking Freely

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A spirited biography of the prophetic and sympathetic philosopher who, along with Voltaire and Rousseau, helped build the foundations of the modern world. Denis Diderot is often associated with the decades-long battle to bring the world's first comprehensive Encyclopedie into existence. But his most daring writing took place in the shadows. Thrown into prison for his atheism in 1749, Diderot decided to reserve his best books for posterity-for us, in fact. In the astonishing cache of unpublished writings left behind after his death, Diderot dreamed of natural selection before Darwin, the Oedipus complex before Freud, and genetic manipulation centuries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. Even more audaciously, the writer challenged virtually all of his century's accepted truths, from the sanctity of monarchy, to the racial justification of the slave trade, to the complications of human sexuality. One of Diderot's most attentive readers during his lifetime was Catherine the Great, who not only supported him financially, but invited him to St. Petersburg to talk about art and help her think about reforming her empire. In this thematically organized biography, Andrew S. Curran vividly describes Diderot's tormented relationship with Rousseau, his curious correspondence with Voltaire, his passionate affairs, and his often paradoxical stand on art, morality, politics, and religion. But what this book brings out most brilliantly is how the writer's self-doubts were an essential part of his genius and his ability to flaunt taboos, dogma, and convention.

Reviews

Engrossinga narrative sustained with appealing clarity and energyreaders of this biography are likely to be impressed by the scope of Diderots thought and by his courage. Washington Post

Making sense of these mercurial works is not easy, and situating them in such a life as Diderots is even more challenging, so it is remarkable thatCurran succeeds admirably in both regardsthe most accessible version of the life and work of this protean figureexcellent. New York Review of Books

Curran does a terrific job of sorting through the crazily complicated history of the Encyclopdies publication[a] revivifying new book. The New Yorker

[The Encyclopdies] publication history is elegantly untangled by Mr. Curran, whose clear style and interest in the psychology of it all transforms it into a lively narrativeyou are bound to be exhilarated by [Diderots] creativity. Wall Street Journal

A clear and compelling account of this magnificent but mercurial thinkerWith confidence and care, Curran traces Diderots breathtaking intellectual itinerarycogent and insightful. Los Angeles Review of Books

[A] marvelous account of thephilosophes life and work. But this is much more than a biography, as Curran renders in vivid detail the social and intellectual life of eighteenth-century FranceReaders will be left with a new appreciation for Diderot. Publishers Weekly(starred review)

A lively biographyAn intellectually dense and well-researched yet brisk journey into one of historys most persuasive dissenters. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

AbsorbingIn this extremely well-written biography, Curran vividly portrays Diderot as a brilliant man filled with contradictions and passions who acted as a central figure in the advancement of intellectual freedom. BookPage(starred review)

In this new biography, Curran looks to remind us just what a radical Diderot was in his time. New York Times Book Review

[Currans] fluent and spirited book surpasses its predecessor in finding a center of gravity in the Enlightenments most kaleidoscopic thinker. New Republic

A triumphant workintelligent and highly readable. NB

Currans critical biographygrapples dexterously with the ramifications of Diderots more original philosophy. New Criterion

Deeply researched and absorbing. The American Scholar

A fascinating biography of Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderotone of historys most famous contrarians. Business Insider

This enjoyable biography of French philosopher Denis Diderot (17131784) engages with the life of this man who was imprisoned for his atheismand with his ideas, which brashly challenged beliefs about religion, race, royalty, sex and morality. Newsday

As befits the biography of an author who labored to make his treatment of ponderous philosophical questions as amusing as possible,Diderot and the Art of Thinking FreelyentertainsMore than a biography, it constitutes a stepping stone into the French Enlightenment. History Today

[A] lucid biographyCurran is particularly attuned to the theme of illusion in Diderots life and work, and how some of Diderots most powerful conceitscompelled hidden and silent things to reveal themselves and speak. Bookforum

[A] marvelous and eye-opening book. Catholic Herald

An exuberant exploration of this endlessly fascinating writerwe need our Diderots now more than ever. Sarah Bakewell,New York Timesbestselling author ofAt the Existentialist Caf

Denis Diderot was many thingsfreethinking philosophe, tireless encyclopedist, trenchant art critic, iconoclastic dramatist, daring sexologist, spirited dialogist, and intimate adviser to Catherine the Greatand Andrew Curran brings them all vividly to life in this enlightening and engaging book. Michael Massing, author ofFatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind

Andrew Curran has given us an invigorating and wide-ranging new biography of the brilliant Encyclopdiste, bringing to life his complicated relationships and the ideas he explored throughout his protean intellectual career. Leo Damrosch, author ofEternitys Sunrise: The Imaginative World of William Blake

Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freelynot only offers an absorbing sketch of life in eighteenth-century France; it provides dazzling insight into critical issues including the existence of God and freedom of speech. Among the manythings that this book accomplishes, it gives readers a taste of the emancipatory power of philosophy. Thierry Hoquet, author ofRevisiting theOrigin of Species:The Other Darwins

In this lively and elegantly crafted portrait of one of the eighteenth centurys greatest minds, Curran gives us a Diderot at once true to his times and intensely relevant to our own. It is a book that will both enlighten and entertain specialists and general readers alike. Darrin M. McMahon, author ofHappiness: A History

Curran narrates with verve the story of Diderots life, but also his late masterpieces, unknown in their own time and written for posterity.Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freelygives us, as hoped, a Diderot for today. Sophia Rosenfeld, author ofCommon Sense: A Political History

One of the most creative and intriguing thinkers of eighteenth-century France comes to life in Andrew Currans new biography of Denis Diderot. In this bibliographicaltour de force, Curran shows us a protean writer who stands for the French Enlightenment, an age whose greatest writers took up the challengeand embraced the pleasureof thinking freely. Rigorously researched and engagingly written, Currans book deftly paints the vivid picture of a multi-faceted and daring thinker who constantly raised essential questions about what it means to be human. Daniel Brewer, author ofThe Enlightenment Past: Reconstructing Eighteenth-Century French Thought

A thrilling narrative that grants the reader an intimate look at Diderots life and intellectual development. Its impish tone and conversational quality remind us of those fireplace conversations that Diderot saw as one of lifes greatest pleasures. Elena Russo, author ofStyles of Enlightenment

Why read about Diderots life today Because his philosophy was about life. Because this philosophers thinking is very much alive, today more than ever. And because this biography is brimming with lifeideas of life and the life of ideas. ric Fassin, author ofPopulism Left and Right

Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freelyweaves together biography and intellectual history to tell a compelling tale. Following thephilosophefrom his childhood as a cutlers son to his service, late in life, as a cultural attach to Catherine the Great, Curran shines new light on Diderots major writings by situating them in their personal, cultural, and political contexts. Along the way, Curran recaptures the radicalism of the monumentalEncyclopdieand other texts that are now cornerstones of the Enlightenment canon but were condemned as dangerouseven blasphemousby church and state alike in the 1700s. Laura Auricchio, author ofThe Marquis: Lafayette Reconsidered

This superbly written and impeccably researched book recreates with vivid details the life and works of the most irrepressible mind of the Enlightenment. Analyzing Diderots relentless pursuit of freedom in an era of censorship and fanaticism, Curran uncovers the multiple facets of his genius and his relevance for our times. Thanks to this book Diderots voice is sure to be silenced and overlooked no more. Ourida Mostefai, author ofRousseau and LInfame: Religion, Toleration, and Fanaticism in the Age of Enlightenment

Author Bio

Andrew Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities and a member of Wesleyan University's Romance Languages and Literatures department. For the first part of his career, Curran's research focused on the eighteenth-century life sciences and medicine. His major publications include an edited volume (Faces of Monstrosity in Eighteenth-Century Thought in Eighteenth-Century Life) and two books- Sublime Disorder- Physical Monstrosity in Diderot's Universe (Voltaire Foundation, Oxford, 2001) and, more recently, The Anatomy of Blackness- Science and Slavery in an Age of Enlightenment (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2011). Elected a Fellow in the history of medicine at the New York Academy of Medicine in 2010, Curran has also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He was also the co-winner of the James L. Clifford prize for the best article in eighteenth-century studies in 2011 on the history of albinism. Most recently, Curran received a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars award (2016). He was also named a Chevalier dans l'ordre des Palmes Academiques in September of 2015. Curran has served on the editorial board of Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture and is presently on the board of Critical Philosophy of Race and Diderot Studies.