Diderot contre Greuze ?

Abstract

Walter E. Rex : Diderot against Greuze ? In accordance with the uniquely curious twists of Diderot's thinking processes, the forceful, passionate enunciation of an idea sometimes brings the philosophe to perceive the reasons against his position-reasons which then emerge as the next stage in his dialectic, without his bothering to notice meanwhile that his line of argument had contradicted itself . Thus, the intensity of Diderot's enthusiasm for Greuze leads him to launch into a defense of values that in effect negate the very qualities he admires most in the painter, a flip-flop that incidentally connects rather well to modem reactions to this artist's dramatic scenes. In sum, if it would be foolish to deny Diderot's espousal of the æsthetics of Greuze, it is time also to recognize the negative aftermaths which his position entails, and which challenge powerfully his own original values.