Diderot, grand communicant

Pierre Zémor : Diderot the Great Communicator. For Diderot, communication was not an artefact, but something natural ; he was a Communicator. With the Encyclopédie, he played a decisive part in the battle for the popularisation of knowledge and for new social relations, in order to prevent appearances or the media from silencing reason, the movement of ideas and authenticity. Whatever the register, he was himself, only varying the form of expression, the medium or even the posture. He shared his certainties and his hesitations, the wealth of his discoveries ; he was habited by the relationship with others, by demonstration and by dialogue. His generosity and his darker characters, his talent and his editorial pugnacity showed that for him the most precious human right was the free communication of thoughts and opinions. Rather than idealising public opinion, surely he warns us of future illusions, namely the textless image and the oversimplified communication devoid of exchange.Zémor Pierre. Diderot, grand communicant. In: Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie, n°18-19, 1995. pp. 115-122