Denis Diderot

Gather all human knowledge in the Encyclopédie.

Enlightenment · Materialism1713 – 1784 FranceEnlightenment philosopherMaterialistEditor of the EncyclopédieWriter of dialogues

Inspirations

Francis Bacon science through experiment

John Locke ideas come from the senses; matter might think

Spinoza a single substance

Descartes against the separate soul and the animal-machine

Heirs

Baron d'Holbachatheist materialism

Charles Darwinthe selection of viable forms, foreshadowed in the Letter on the Blind

Karl Marx materialism

how it is computed

Closest

Michael Martin The arguments for God's existence fail, and there are good reasons not to believe.

John Rawls A society is just if its rules would be chosen by people who did not know what place they would hold in it.

Furthest

Tertullien Latin-writing Christian author: Christian faith has no need to pass through philosophy.

J. P. Moreland Consciousness is poorly explained by matter alone: it is evidence for God.