Ethical Considerations in Diderot's Literary Work

[M. Janjić]

349 listova

Biografija autora: list 347. Bibliografija: list. 322-340.

French literature and culture

The aim of this doctoral dissertation is to outline and critically analyze the ethical considerations in the literary work of Denis Diderot (1713–1784). The primary corpus, according to the given research subject, consists of the following titles : 1) novels ― Les Bijoux indiscrets, La Religieuse et Jacques le Fataliste et son maître ; 2) tales ― Ceci n’est pas un conte, Madame de la Carlière, Le Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville, L’Entretien d’un père avec ses enfants et Les Deux amis de Bourbonne ; 3) satyre in dialogue ― Le Neveu de Rameau ; 4) two polemical dialogues that belong to the intermediate genre between philosophy and literature ― Le Rêve de d’Alembert et L’Entretien d’un philosophe avec la maréchale de *** ; 5) two plays ― Le Fils naturel et Le Père de famille. The main hypotheses which are found in the base of this dissertation are the following: a) the central concepts of ethical considerations in Diderot’s literary works, which form an organic unity and connective framework of his thought in general, are man (homme), nature (nature) and society (société); b) In his literary works, Diderot discusses complex moral problems just as much as in his theoretical and philosophical writings. In this doctoral dissertation, it is analytically concluded that Diderot’s ethical considerations in his literary work represent a reflection of the essential themes of the French Enlightenment philosophy, by showing us the dialectical conflict between nature, as an amoral reality, and society, as a moral environment, gradually built when man rose from the state of nature. Accordingly, Diderot’s ethical considerations are paradoxical, often contradictory, because this French philosopher advocates simultaneously opposing ethical viewpoints, and, in this way, builds two opposing morals: the morality of the individual and the morality of society. On the basis of the analyzed corpus, it will be established that Diderot does not form closed theories, but tries to penetrate into the depths of human nature where reason and feelings, rational and sentimental, natural and cultural, amoral and moral face each other. In this respect, the historical position, according to which Denis Diderot is a prominent representative of the French literature of the Enlightenment, which, due to the nature of the spirit of the epoch and the cultural peculiarities of the 18th century, has distinctly philosophical foundations, is confirmed.

Didro, etika, moral, prirodni moral, društveni moral, francuska prosvećenost, materijalizam, ateizam, moralne priče, didaktička književnost

Diderot, ethics, моral, natural moral, social morality, French Enlightenment, materialism, аtheism, moral tales, didactical literature

821.133.1.09 Didro D. (043.3)

H 004 H470

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