Diderot: The Virtue of a Philosopher

by Carol Blum

s/t: The Virtue of a Philosopher
Note on Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Probity without Religion
Philosophy & Power
Bad Times
The Project of Sincerity
Adviser to the Empress
The Trickster's Turn
The Final Accounting
Notes
List of Works Cited
A Brief List of Other Works in English
Index

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 1974

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

For what appears to be an academic study this book is exceptionally clear as well as beautifully and often amusingly written. Subtitled "The Virtue of a Philosopher", it's a thematically organized biography of Denis Diderot (1713-1784), tracing his evolving views of the human person, in part by contrasting his views against those of J.J. Rousseau.

While both Rousseau and Diderot begin with the axiomatic claim that human nature is good, each set off in a different direction. Rousseau, in Blum's view, was basically anti-social. For him, in the state of nature people lived as individuals, corruption arising from socialization, from civilization. Diderot, influenced by Shaftesbury, saw humans as essentially social. This fundamental difference, and Rousseau's increasingly solipsistic paranoia, led to the dissolution of their friendship.

Both Rousseau and Diderot also began with a correlative assumption that the original intentions and aesthetic sentiments of people were good and that fine art, by reawakening such feelings, could heal human fallenness. For them, intentions and feelings had moral weight.

While Rousseau stuck to this idea, seeking to preserve his beautiful soul in isolation from corrupt society, Diderot's own views changed. By middle age, having become skeptical about even his own practices of self-justification, he had come to see that one's virtue wasn't to be found in one's ultimately inscruitable subjectivity but in objective behavior alone. Virtue was to be found, if anywhere, in deeds, not intentions.

That is basically the outline of Blum's work, her thesis as it were. The book itself, however, the thesis fleshed out, is an entertaining delight and its portrayal of its subject sympathetic and believable.

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written + thorough perspective on Diderot's life/work/thought. A pleasant and easy read despite the depth of the subject matter.

[David Loveland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Relevant reading for one of my essays, but not something I would read for fun.