Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (1713-1784) was a French philosophe and the genius behind the Encyclopédie, one of the most important works of the Enlightenment. A lovely fictional account of his visit to Russia, at the invitation of Catherine the Great, can be found in Malcolm Bradbury’s last novel, To The Hermitage. According to art critic Michael Fried, Diderot was not only a great philosopher but also “the best-ever art critic.”
Books by Denis Diderot
“Rameau’s Nephew is perhaps the most immediately accessible and readable of his works, given that so many of them are entries for the encyclopedia of which he and Jean le Rond d’Alembert was the editor…It picks up on these themes which are central to the Enlightenment. This conversation, between what is perhaps the voice of Diderot and another individual, is the conversation of enlightenment in Kant’s sense.” Read more...
A C Grayling, Philosopher
“Diderot is a great philosopher and arguably the best-ever art critic…the importance he placed on the relation between the painting and the viewer…was central to the development of French painting in the mid-18th century – between Chardin and Greuze – and Manet and his generation over 100 years later.” Read more...
The best books on The Philosophical Stakes of Art
Michael Fried, Art Historians, Critics & Curator
Interviews where books by Denis Diderot were recommended
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1
Salons
by Denis Diderot -
2
Phenomenology of Perception
by Maurice Merleau-Ponty -
3
Disowning Knowledge
by Stanley Cavell -
4
Nicolas Poussin
by Elizabeth Cropper and Charles Dempsey -
5
Doctor Faustus: The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn As Told by a Friend
by Thomas Mann, translated by John E. Woods
The best books on The Philosophical Stakes of Art, recommended by Michael Fried
The best books on The Philosophical Stakes of Art, recommended by Michael Fried
The distinguished art critic and art historian Michael Fried talks about the importance of philosophy to his work. He recommends the best books on the ‘philosophical stakes of art.’
The best books on Being Good, recommended by A C Grayling
What does a moral life entail? How does one achieve it? Philosopher AC Grayling picks the best books on “being good.”
