Pensées Philosophiques

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Denis Diderot

Actes Sud, Arles, France, 1998, French; originally published 1747

Nonfiction, General

ISBN: 9782742714667

A popular yet controversial philosophical text of its time containing 62 “philosophical thoughts”, Denis Diderot's first original work critiques the dogmas of Catholicism and religious belief. Denouncing Christianity as absurd and immoral, Diderot proposes a substitute concept which looks toward the order of natural world and the moral development of the human race.

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Cleto Munari

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Pensées Philosophiques (“Philosophical Thoughts”) was an early work of Diderot’s, written around 1747. It was popular but also got him into trouble by criticizing religious belief and Catholicism. A few years later he would be an outright atheist. The “pensées” are more aphoristic than usual for the author; yet, even in these brief reflections of his I became convinced that passions and ideal desires are something you must not be ashamed of but represent the real essence of life.

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