Name: Azra Kelecija
Professor: Amer Dardagan
Subject: HIST 102, Spring 2018
Date: 12.06.2018
Diderot's Enlightened Encyclopedia During the mid and late 18th century, the Encyclopédie or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts was published in France. The Encyclopédie represents one of the most important works of literature that were published in France during the Enlightenment period. Denis Diderot was among the greatest contributors to the creation of the Enlightened Encyclopedia. In the following text, the focus will be on Diderot’s Enlightened Encyclopedia and its formation. In order to understand the creation of the Encyclopédie, it is first important to know the historical background. The Encyclopédie
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It is interesting to note that the Encyclopédie had a number of contributors, many of whom were never named. Denis Diderot would serve as the main editor of the Encyclopédie. However, Jean le Rond d'Alembert also helped in the editing process up until 1759. Diderot’s Encyclopedia was also the first encyclopedia to truly explain the mechanical arts. The idea to create an encyclopedia full of information about the world was not necessarily a new idea. Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia from 1728 would serve as an inspiration for Diderot and other intellectuals. The success of Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia would lead to many translations, and was eventually translated to French. In 1745, a prospectus for the Encyclopédie was released to the public, in order to attract any potential subscribers. The prospectus would go on to receive positive reviews from critics. The French publisher, André Le Breton, took over the project and hired several editors. Among those hired was Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, Jean le Rond d'Alembert, Jean Paul de Gua de Malves, and Denis Diderot. Due to the incompetence of some of the editors, Denis Diderot would go on to edit the Encyclopédie for some twenty-five years. After decades of writing, the Encyclopédie had twenty-eight volumes,
Sean Kamperman the author of “The Wikipedia Game: Boring, Pointless, or Neither” believes that wikipedia can be helpful with educational learning purposes. Wikipedia is known for plagiarism and fake information. People make Wikipedia have a bad reputation in schools especially in english classes. Wikipedia can be a source of entertainment and self improvement for some people. Some people might just research stuff on Wikipedia to find interesting articles. In “Wikihunt” many Wikipedia users have “discovered” a game of their own, this involves creativity so it brings out the creative qualities of people. Wikipedia is a educational game and it's also free it's convenient for people. The game “Wikihunt” involves two people in separate computers
Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d., pp. 113-117. Web. The Web.
ed. Rostand, Edmond. The "Rostand, Edmond The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 22nd ed. of the book. 1994.
In “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff pens an impressive argument wrought from personal experience, wisdom and heart. In his essay, Graff argues that street smarts have intellectual potential. A simple gem of wisdom, yet one that remains hidden beneath a sea of academic tradition. However, Graff navigates the reader through this ponderous sea with near perfection.
Sor Juana’s letter Response to Sor Filotea, Aphra Behn’s short story Oronooko, and Rene Descartes’s methodology statement The Discourse on Method all touch on the consequences of knowledge. Consequences of knowledge are present in each author’s work, and their explanation fits with the certain time of their work was published. When Descartes’s The Discourse on Method was published he received criticism; stating that his methodology was close to atheism; since the things that could be doubted were infinite. Descartes method was introduced during the Enlightenment period; a time when everyone yearned for all the knowledge available. In this period knowledge equaled power, but Descartes stated that known facts can be doubts if there is uncertainty.
In the mid eighteenth century, the Encyclopedia was published. It was written under the leadership of Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert. Over one hundred French thinkers contributed to the Encyclopedia, including all of the major French philosophes. Diderot wrote on about every subject including philosophy, science, music, and art. D’Alembert divided and described the different sciences, and he analyzed the role of reason. The Encyclopedia was meant to secularize learning and to refute intellectual assumptions from the Middle Ages. It contained articles on religion, government, and philosophy. It attempted to see the natural world through science and technology, and human passions through an understanding of how individuals and societies work. The Encyclopedia helped spread the thoughts of the Enlightenment over the continent.
In the book The Enlightenment: A Genealogy, Dan Edelstein attempts to discuss both the historical and the philosophical aspects of The Enlightenment. In Edelstein’s book, he discusses the fundamental meanings of Enlightenment, its historical significance, and how the Enlightenment spread across Europe between 1680 and 1740. Alternatively, in Gertrude Himmelfarb’s book, The Roads to Modernity, the author compares the different forms of Enlightenment that occurred throughout Europe during the same period. Edelstein’s book, although advertised otherwise, is based more around historical fact rather than around philosophical debate, which Edelstein says he is attempting to do. However, Himmelfarb succeeds in the areas that Edelstein lacks.
Encyl. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., in 2013. Web. The Web. The Web.
Enlightenment had an enormous impact on educated, well to do people in Europe and America. It supplied them with a common vocabulary and a unified view of the world, one that insisted that the enlightened 18th century was better, and wiser, than all previous ages. It joined them in a common endeavor, the effort to make sense of God's orderly creation. Thus
...ie, 31 (1) 27-49.Fallis, D. (2008). Toward an epistemology of Wikipedia. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59(10), 1662–1674. doi:10.1002/asi.20870
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the 17th and 18th centuries. It concentrated on reason, logic, and freedom over blind faith. During this time more and more people reject absolute authority of the church and state. The driving force of the enlightenment across Europe and England came from a small group of thinkers and writers that are known today as “philosophes.” The English Enlightenment differed from other European countries, like France. England had many discoveries in manufacturing, literature, plays, and landscaping, but the advances in sciences were probably one of the important. This period of time was coined as the Scientific Revolution. The most
Encyclopaedia Britannica online, http://www.encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Inc., 2014. web. 10 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard' Frommer, Harvey, “Wooden, John” (1910-2010).
25 Brians Bibliography 1. What is the difference between a.. Brian, Paul. The "Enlightenment" of the.. 11 March 1998. http://www.wsu.edu/brians/hum_300/enlightenment.html (29 February 2000). 2.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web.
One word that has come to represent the mid-18th century Enlightenment movement is “Reason”. The French philosophes believed that reason could provide critical, informed, scientific solutions to social issues and problems, and essentially improve the human condition. Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground is one of the most famous anti-Enlightenment novels for its rejection of these very notions. Through this novel he showed what he believed were gaps in the idea that the mind could be freed from ignorance through the application of reason, and the rejection of the idea that humankind could achieve a utopian existence as a result.