Denis Diderot Analysis

This source is the foreword provided by Denis Diderot in Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts). This was a general encyclopedia published in France during the mid 17th century that proved innovative in that it covered new subjects in a systemized manner. This passage summarizes the purpose of the encyclopedia - to pass knowledge to posterity; it goes on to express why it is important to do so.
Diderot raises significant points about the importance of the systemization and documentation of knowledge. “We do not know how far a given man can go. We know even less how far the human race would go”. As Diderot wanted to emphasize
People became more focused on human-centric development. Through the enlightenment, a sense of optimism began to develop and the idea of human perfectibility surfaced.
Given the context of this passage, we can see Encyclopédie emerged from the very combination of new collections of knowledge and the mindset of working toward human perfectibility and eliminating ignorance. Though education was still limited, it can be seen through the given excerpt that this was not an encyclopedia meant for nobility or even just scholars. The foreword of Encyclopédie targeted the human race as an audience. Encyclopédie became popular, 4250 copies were produced, a relatively large amount for the time. It managed to reach further than many other sources of knowledge.
The historical significance of this passage is that it is a strong representation of the Enlightenment that altered human thinking toward individualistic principles, namely the principles that drove the French Revolution. It is also the introduction of a very expansive and innovative encyclopedia that set a precedent of systematization and comprehensiveness for later collections of knowledge. Taking into account the time and location in history, this excerpt is making a very ambitious and dangerous