DIDEROT, Denis (1713—1784), French encyclopedist, philosopher, and man of letters, who was one of the most dynamic leaders of the Enlightenment. During his lifetime he was best known as chief editor of the Encyclopedie (1751—1772). This great publishing enterprise, the largest attempted up to that time, was more than simply a comprehensive work of reference. It was also intended, in Diderot’s own words, “to change the general way of thinking” and to bring about “a revolution in men’s minds.”

德尼·狄德罗（1713年至1784年），法国百科全书编纂人，哲学家和学者，他是启蒙运动最具活力的领导人之一。在他的一生中，他最著名的是作为《百科全书》（1751年至1772年）的主编。这个伟大的出版事业不仅仅是一部综合的参考书，而且是那个时代最大的尝试，用狄德罗自己的话，它是有意“改变思维的一般方式”并带来“人类思想的一场革命”。

    The 20^th century, while continuing to recognize Diderot’s importance in the Enlightenment, especially esteems him as the author of a number of posthumously published works of extraordinary originality and daring. They have a vitality, an experimental quality, and a sense of life’s ambivalences and ambiguities that particularly engage the modern taste.

       二十世纪，当人们不断认可狄德罗在启蒙运动中的重要性时，尤其敬重他是在他死后出版的一些具有非凡创意和胆识作品的作者。它们具有一种生命力，一种实验的品质以及一种生活的矛盾心理和不确定的感觉，这尤其具有了现代意味。

     Early Life and Works.  Diderot was born at Langres, on Oct. 5, 1713. He studied at the Jesuit College there, probably attended the Jansenist College d’Harcourt in Paris, and received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Paris. After 10 bohemian years, he married Anne Toinette Champion in 1743.

       早期生活与作品  1713年10月5日，狄德罗生于朗格勒。他在那里的耶稣会学院学习，他很可能上过巴黎的哈科特·詹森尼斯学院，并获得了巴黎大学的学士学位。在十年放荡不羁的生活之后，他于1743年迎娶了安妮·托瓦内特·尚皮翁。

     The world of letters first knew Diderot as a translator of English works: Temple Stanyan’s Grecian History (1743), Lord Shaftesbury’s Inquiry Concerning Virtue and Merit (1745), and Robert James’ Medicinal dictionary (6 vols., 1746—1748).  In 1746, Diderot published anonymously his own Pensees Philosophiques, an influential book of deistic aphorisms, which was condemned to be burned by the public executioner. In 1748 he brought out anonymously a slightly obscene “philosophical” novel, Les bijoux indiscrets and, under his own name, a slender volume on physics and mathematics, Memoires sur different sujets de mathematiques. He was imprisoned for THREE months in the Chateau de Vincennes in 1749 for having written the Lettre sur les aveugles, a book on the behavior of philosophical materialism and of the existence of God.

       文学圈内首先知道了狄德罗是一位英文作品的翻译者：《斯坦亚神庙的古希腊历史》（1743年），沙夫茨伯里勋爵的《论美德与德性》（1745年）以及罗伯特·詹姆斯的《药用词典》（六卷，1746年至1748年）。1746年，狄德罗化名出版了他的《哲学沉思》，一部有影响的自然神格言，书受到了谴责，被当众焚烧。1748年，他匿名出版了一部略带淫秽的“哲学意味”的小说《八卦珠宝》并以他的名义发行了一册薄薄的有关物理和数学的书《关于不同数学主题的回忆录》。1749年，因为写了《论盲人书简》，在文森城堡他被囚禁了三个月，那是一本有关哲学唯物论与上帝存在行为的书。

     “Encyclopedie.”  In 1747, Diderot, aided by Jean d’Alembert, became editor of the Encyclopedie. Originally it was intended to be a translation of Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia (1728), but Diderot greatly expanded it. Its prospectus appeared in 1750, and the work itself was published from 1751 to 1772 in 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of engravings.

       “百科全书”  1747年，在让·达朗贝尔的资助下，狄德罗成为了《百科全书》的编辑。最初是打算翻译以法莲·钱伯斯的《百科全书》，但狄德罗大大扩展了它。该计划出现于1750年，并于1751年至1772年出版了计划中的十七卷文本和十一卷版刻作品。

     Diderot was a materialist. Questioning tradition and authority, he believed in the power of human reason, guided by sense experience, to increase human knowledge and well-being. He gathered like-minded writers and scientists to contribute to the Encyclopedie and himself wrote hundreds of articles for it. The most notable are those dealing with the history of philosophy and the crafts and industries of France.

       狄德罗是一位唯物论者。对传统和权威提出了质疑，他认为人类理性的力量，是受感官经验的指导来增强人类的知识和幸福。他汇聚了志同道合的作家和科学家为《百科全书》贡献力量，而他自己也为《百科全书》撰写了数百篇的条目。最著名的是涉及哲学史和法国工艺和工业的条目。

     The Encyclopedie, reflecting its editor’s point of view, frequently embodied proposals for social change and implicitly challenged much in the contemporary political and religious establishment. It was subject to censorship by the government and was a target of conservatives and reactionaries. Thus, the long struggle to bring the Encyclopedie to completion was part of the agitation for greater tolerance and greater freedom of EXPRESSION that was an important element in the Enlightenment. In 1752 the government suspended the work for almost a year, and in 1759 it revoked Diderot’s license to publish. Subsequently, but even so Diderot was not spared heartsickening disappointment: his publisher, Le Breton, secretly altered many of the articles after Diderot had finished with them. Though Diderot discovered the deceit in 1764, he decided not expose it; but he wrote to Le Breton, “I shall bear the wound until I die.”

       《百科全书》，反映着它编辑们的观点，在当代政治和宗教的建立中，通常为社会的变革和暗中的挑战提供建议。它受政府的审查，而且它是保守派及反对进步者的目标。因此，完成《百科全书》的长期斗争就成为了获得更大宽容和更大表达自由的部分，它是启蒙运动的一个重要因素。1752年政府暂停了这项工作差不多一年时间，而在1759年政府取消了狄德罗的出版许可。后来，即使如此，狄德罗也没有幸免苦恼的失望：他的出版商列·布列塔尼，在狄德罗交付了文稿后，许多文章都被悄悄地修改了。尽管狄德在1764年发现了该欺骗，但他决定不去揭露它；但他给列·布列塔尼写了一封信“我到死都会忍受这一伤痛”。

     Other Works. Although Diderot complained that the Encyclopedie had used up—in writing, editing, proofreading, supervising of engravings, and other editorial tasks—fully 25 years of his life, he found time to write many other works that amply demonstrate the great range and versatility of his mind. Lettre sur les sourds et muets (1751), a book primarily on the behavior and psychology of deaf-mutes, also discussed poetics, aesthetics, and linguistics. Pensees sur l’interpretation de la nature (1753) was an influential short treatise on scientific method. His two plays, Le fils naturel (1757) and Le pere de famille (1758), greatly influenced the theater in their naturalistic portrayal of everyday middle-class life. Diderot accompanied these plays with important supplementary essays on the theory of playwriting and production—Entretiens sur Le fils naturel (1757) and De la poesie dramatique (1758).

其它作品  虽然狄德罗诉苦说《百科全书》在撰写、编辑、校对、监督雕刻以及其它的编辑任务中用完了他一生整整二十五年的时光，但他仍抽出时间写作了许多其它的作品，它们充分展示了他头脑的广博和多才多艺。《论聋哑者书信集》（1751年），一本主要涉及聋哑者行为和心理状态的书，还讨论了诗学、美学和语言学。《对自然的解释》（1753年）是一篇有关科学方法的有影响力的短小论文。他的两个剧本《私生子》（1757年）和《一家之主》（1758年），极大地影响了戏剧在中产阶级日常生活中的自然描述。狄德罗还用论述剧本创作和作品的理论为这些剧本配上了一些重要的补充性论文---《关于<</span>私生子>的谈话》（1757年）和《论戏剧诗》（1758年）。

     Many works that Diderot judged likely to be suppressed by the censors were published posthumously. In the novel La religieuse (1760; published 1796) he portrayed the distressing experiences of a young nun who wishes to renounce her vows. In Le neveu de Rameau (1761; published in German, 1805) he showed his mastery of the dialogue form, brilliantly satirizing his enemies while discussing music, creativity, genius, and ethics. For his Salons, a series of critiques of the Royal academy of Art’s biennial art exhibition, Diderot is often regarded as a founder of modern art criticism.

        狄德罗判断可能被审查官禁止的许多作品都是在他死后出版。在小说《修女》中（1760年；1796年出版），他描绘了一位希望放弃她誓言的年轻修女的痛苦经历。在《拉莫的侄儿》中（1761年；1805年在德国出版），他展示了他对对话形式的把握，在讨论音乐、创造性、天赋和伦理观时，巧妙地讽刺了他的敌人。至于他的沙龙，对皇家艺术学院两年一度的艺术展览进行了一连串的批评，狄德罗通常被认为是现代艺术批评的开创者。

     Le reve de d’Alembert (1769; published 1830) is a dialogue that treats the origin of organized matter and of life without presupposing a creator. It contains prophetic insights into chemistry and biology, which propped the reader into the 20^th century world of genes and amino acids. The theory of acting is dealt with in Le paradoxe sur le comedien (1773; published 1830). The Supplement au Voyage de Bougainville (1772; published 1796), while ostensibly discussing the mores of the Tahitians, actually criticizes the laws and mores of contemporary Europe. The novel Jacques le fataliste et son maitre (1771—1773; published 1796), long regarded as a bizarre and undisciplined effusion, has come to be considered a masterpiece that explores various levels of meaning and various kinds of novelistic techniques. Elements de physiologie (1774—1784; published 1875) shows Diderot’s remarkable familiarity with the medical and scientific researches of his day and especially reveals his insights into neurophysiology.

       《达朗贝尔的梦想》（1769年；1830年出版）是以没有造物主为前提的讨论构成物质和生命起源的一次对话。它包含了对化学和生物学的深刻见解，它带领读者进入了二十世纪基因和氨基酸的世界。在《喜剧的悖论》中论及了表演的理论（1773年；1830年出版）。《对布甘维尔航行的补充》（1772年；1796年出版），在表面上是讨论塔希提人的习俗，实际上是在批评当代欧洲的法律与道德观念。小说《宿命论者雅克和他的主人》（1771年至1773年；1796年出版），长期被视为奇异的和没规矩的情感流露，已被认为是探索不同层次意义和各种小说技巧的杰作。《哲学元素》（1774年至1784；1875年出版）展示了狄德罗对他那个时代的医学和科学的研究极为熟悉，尤其揭示了他对神经生理学的洞察力。

     A defense of the Roman philosopher Seneca, published in 1779 and enlarged in 1782, was  kind of apology for his own life. It was followed by an autobiographical play, Est-il bon? Est-il mechant? (1781; published 1834), whose hero, with the best of intentions, minds everyone’s business but his own. Diderot also wrote several important philosophical tales, various lengthy memoranda, and some clever light verse.

 1779年出版并在1782年扩大的对罗马哲学家塞内卡的辩护，有几分是对他自己生活的道歉。接着是一部自传体的剧本《他善吗？他恶吗？》（1781年；1834年出版），剧中的男主角，出于一片好心，想着大家的事，唯独不想自己的事。狄德罗还写了几篇重要的具有哲理的故事，各种各样冗长的备忘录，以及一些巧妙谐趣的诗。

      Character and Later Life.  Among his many friends Diderot numbered the philosophers Holbach, Rousseau, Hume, Helvetius, and the Abbe Raynal; the literary figures Laurence Sterne, Marmontel, and Sedaine; the criminologist Beccaria; the economist Galiani; the political leader John Wilkes; the actor David Garrick; and the sculptor E.M. Falconet, with whom he exchanged heated letters about immortality and posterity. In his relations with these friends Diderot was warmhearted, generous, somewhat absentminded, and slightly inclined to be self-righteous. These qualities were especially evident in his friendship with the difficult Rousseau, which ended in 1757. His friends greatly admired Diderot’s eloquent conversational powers. He loved to participate in the famous discussions at Holbach’s salon, where Horace Walpole found him “a very lively old man and great talker.”

       性格与晚年生活  在狄德罗的许多朋友中就包括了哲学家霍尔巴赫、卢梭、休谟、爱尔维修和阿贝·雷纳尔；经济学家加里亚尼；政治领导人约翰·威尔克斯；演员大卫·加里克以及雕塑家E.M. 法尔科内，他与他们就有关不朽和后辈的问题频繁地进行通信。在他与这些朋友的关系中，狄德罗是热心、慷慨的，但有点心不在焉，而且有点自以为是的倾向。这些品质在他与执拗的卢梭友谊中尤其明显，友谊在1757年便结束了。他的朋友们相当钦佩狄德罗雄辩的谈话能力。他喜欢参与在霍尔巴赫沙龙的著名讨论，在沙龙，霍勒斯·沃波尔发现他是“一位非常活泼的老人，而且是个非常健谈的人”。

     Chronically neglectful of his wife, Diderot lavished greater affection on Sophie Volland, his liaison with her lasting from about 1755 until her death in 1784. His letters to her are universally regarded as one of the most fascinating and dazzling revelations of an era and a personality that the art of letter writing can provide.

       狄德罗长期忽视他的妻子，对索菲·沃兰倾注了太多的感情，他同她的联系大约从1755年一直至她1784年去世。他给她的信件普遍被视为是一个时代和一种人格所能提供的书信艺术最迷人和最耀眼的启示录之一。

     Diderot doted on his only surviving child, Angelique, and to increase her dowry he sold his library in 1765 to Catherine II of Russia for 15,000 livres. The Empress stipulated that Diderot retain the use of the library and gave him 1,000 livres a year to improve it. In 1766, when Diderot was 53, she paid him a lump sum of 50,000 livres in advance for another half century of similar services. Diderot traveled to St. Petersburg in 1773—1774 to thank Catherine personally, and after this long and difficult journey his health was never robust. He died in Paris on July 31, 1784.

       狄德罗溺爱他唯一存活的孩子，安琪莉可，而且为多给她嫁妆，在1765年把他的图书馆以一万五千里弗卖给了俄国的凯瑟琳二世。女皇约定，狄德罗保留图书馆的使用权并给他每年一千里弗用于图书馆的维护。1766年，在狄德罗53岁时，她提前半个世纪，一次性付给他五万里弗类似的服务费用。狄德罗在1773至1774年旅行至圣·彼得堡，亲自向凯瑟琳表示感谢，而在这次漫长而艰难的旅行后，他的健康再未好起来。1784年7月31日他在巴黎去世。

                                                                                 ARTHUR M. WILSON

                                                                 Author of “Diderot: The Testing Years”

                                                                                      阿瑟·M. 威尔逊

                                                                          “狄德罗：试验的年代”的作者

                                                                                    2020年5月22日译

（该词条位列《大美百科全书》1985年版，第9卷，第89页至90页）