From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Denis
Diderot (October
5,
1713
-
July 31,
1784)
was a
French
writer
and
philosopher.
Born in
Langres,
Champagne, France
in 1713, he was a prominent figure in what became known as
The Enlightenment,
and was the editor-in-chief of the famous
Encyclopédie.
Diderot also
contributed to
literature,
notably with his work
Jacques the Fatalist,
which challenged conventions regarding
novels
and their structure and content, while also examining
philosophical
ideas relating to
free will.
He is also known as
the author of the essay Regrets on Parting with My Old
Dressing Gown, upon which many an article and sermon
about consumer desire have been based.
He died of
emphysema and dropsy in
Paris
on July 31, 1784, and was buried in the city's
Eglise Saint-Roch.