French Literature Reviews - 2026

C. Duflo, Diderot. Du matérialisme à la politique
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

Colas Duflo, Diderot. Du matérialisme à la politique

Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2013.

EAN 9782271076588

350 p.

Price 22EUR

Publisher's overview:

Diderot’s work presents itself as a paradoxically unfinished, open, and shifting totality. Colas Duflo introduces us to this universe of thought—one that plays with dispersion, fragmentation, and detachment across novels, dialogues, articles, travelogues, and correspondence. A Diderot constantly in motion, fond of hoaxes, both a humanist and a mocker, a philosopher and a novelist, a brilliant critic and an inspired playwright.
A Diderot who became a master in the art of outwitting censorship, whose work merges with the subversion of the Enlightenment. Materialism, the multiple self, a critique of the illusion of freedom… From this rich abundance, Colas Duflo connects all the fragmented elements, from philosophy to anthropology, and from political philosophy to meditations on the future of civilization. A Diderot more relevant than ever, whose lessons in freedom resonate as a permanent invitation to critical thinking.

Colas Duflo is a professor of Literature at the University of Picardie Jules Verne. His recent research focuses primarily on the history of 18th-century philosophy and literature, and in particular on Diderot, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, and the ways in which philosophy manifests within the Enlightenment novel.

Denis Diderot occupies a central place in the intellectual history of the French Enlightenment, bridging rigorous philosophical inquiry and inventive literary creation across genres such as the novel, dialogue and art criticism. His engagement with materialism and political thought developed in a climate defined by intellectual censorship and the evolving public sphere of eighteenth-century Europe. Scholars of this period frequently examine how Enlightenment figures negotiated the tension between systematic philosophical materialism and the fluid, often subversive demands of literary form, exploring questions of personal identity, political authority and the limits of state control.

Colas Duflo introduces us to this universe of thought—one that plays with dispersion, fragmentation, and detachment across novels, dialogues, articles, travelogues, and correspondence. Readers interested in eighteenth-century French philosophy, Enlightenment literature and the intellectual contexts of the radical press may find this volume relevant. From this rich abundance, Colas Duflo connects all the fragmented elements, from philosophy to anthropology, and from political philosophy to meditations on the future of civilization.