Denis Diderot: A Sensual Materialist Ahead Of His Time
Also, claimed by rationalists, empiricists, and libertarians, Diderot left his mark
A sensual “butterfly”
As a contemporary to Voltaire, as a Frenchman, and as a philosopher at a time when independent thought could carry a prison sentence, Denis Diderot was transformative to history.
Largely forgotten as a “natural philosopher” by the time the French revolution rolled around along with the heads of authority and privilege, Diderot most famously said:
“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”
Half of the power of that quote is in its extreme graphic imagery. This resounding call to reason against the divine authority of kings and any blind loyalty to religion is compact, and complete. It says so much about authoritarian rule, dynastic power, the danger of concentrated wealth and influence; all issues with which we are still grabbling today on the global stage.
Although he did not personally believe in such violence, his words were powerful fuel. Words, he understood, could paint vivid pictures, and have consequences as well as influence.
