Psychobiography with Dr. Gail Saltz: On Denis Diderot with Andrew S. Curran

Dr. Saltz interviews scholar Andrew S. Curran about Denis Diderot, the prophetic and sympathetic philosopher who helped build the foundations of the modern world.

Denis Diderot is often associated with the decades-long battle to bring the world’s first comprehensive Encyclopédie into existence. But his most daring writing took place in the shadows. In this thematically organized biography, Andrew S. Curran vividly describes Diderot’s tormented relationship with Rousseau, his curious correspondence with Voltaire, his passionate affairs, and his often iconoclastic stands on art, theater, morality, politics, and religion. Curran highlights how Diderot’s personal turmoil was an essential part of his genius and his ability to flout taboos, dogma, and convention.