Diderot selon Pierre Larousse

Abstract

Raymond Trousson : Diderot according to Pierre Larousse. Pierre Larousse, a disciple of Michelet, Proudhon and Auguste Comte, accorded Diderot an important place in his Grand Dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle. In his preface, he specifically presents himself as the Encyclopaedist's heir and claims his patronage for his own undertaking. He considered Diderot to be the most important and innovative of the « philosophes », far ahead of Voltaire and Rousseau, and he presents him as a precursor of the Revolution « from the point of view of politics, philosophy and literature ». Diderot was already concerned about an authentic social revolution and was philosophically the most daring and original thinker of his time, a pioneer of the experimental method and a genius who looked forward to the discoveries of modern science. In literature, Larousse rehabilitated Diderot's plays and above all paid homage to the powerful originality of Rameau 's Nephew. This long article, written five years before the beginning of Assezat's publication of the Complete Works, was a prelude to the celebration of Diderot's centenary in 1884, orchestrated by the Positivist school.