The discourse of enlightenment in eighteenth-century France

by Daniel Brewer

This study focuses on the works of one of the best-known writers of eighteenth-century France, Denis Diderot, whose experimentation with presenting critical knowledge exemplifies the Enlightenment's struggle to produce a rationalist critique of all prior knowledge. Paying close attention to the formal-poetic nature of Diderot's writing, it examines the interplay between critical knowledge and its representation. Professor Brewer shows how Diderot's work in the areas of philosophy, science, the fine arts and literature pushed Enlightenment critique to its limits, and points to its remarkable similarity to aspects of modern critical theory.