An important aspect of Diderot's training in natural science, which is less well-known than his important relationship with Maupertuis and Buffon, is his debt towards his friends and 'masters' of the Montpellier medical school, from Menuret to Fouquet, who wrote most of the Encyclopedie articles on medicine and physiology. One should also mention R.James's medical dictionary (1745) which Diderot, Eidous and Toussaint translated and which is still marked by late 17th-century iatromechanism. This article studies the contribution of these sources to Diderot's philosophical physiology in the Elements de physiologie and Diderot's role in writing these articles and their subject indicators in relation to the system of human knowledge. We look at the importance of physiology and its place in the field of natural history in the Encyclopédie itself. This study throws light on the definition of the subject indicators and their origin, implying an implicit or explicit strategy for organising the text, which guided the work of its authors and shows how they conformed to the editors' project.
Quintili, P. (2006). Diderot's philosophical physiology in relation to the system of knowledge [La position de la physiologie philosophique de Diderot par rapport au Systeme des connaissances]. RECHERCHES SUR DIDEROT ET SUR L'ENCYCLOPEDIE(40-41), 209-220.
Diderot's philosophical physiology in relation to the system of knowledge [La position de la physiologie philosophique de Diderot par rapport au Systeme des connaissances]
QUINTILI, PAOLO
2006-01-01
Abstract
An important aspect of Diderot's training in natural science, which is less well-known than his important relationship with Maupertuis and Buffon, is his debt towards his friends and 'masters' of the Montpellier medical school, from Menuret to Fouquet, who wrote most of the Encyclopedie articles on medicine and physiology. One should also mention R.James's medical dictionary (1745) which Diderot, Eidous and Toussaint translated and which is still marked by late 17th-century iatromechanism. This article studies the contribution of these sources to Diderot's philosophical physiology in the Elements de physiologie and Diderot's role in writing these articles and their subject indicators in relation to the system of human knowledge. We look at the importance of physiology and its place in the field of natural history in the Encyclopédie itself. This study throws light on the definition of the subject indicators and their origin, implying an implicit or explicit strategy for organising the text, which guided the work of its authors and shows how they conformed to the editors' project.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.