Abstract

Denis Diderot, an Enlightenment philosopher, was a driving force behind the French Encyclopédie. In his dialogue Le neveu de Rameau, he voices fundamental doubts about his own work. Here, the emphasis on causality in art and science is presented as a fascinating yet amoral pursuit. Through this dialogue, Diderot anticipates concepts that would only receive particular attention in the 20th century: the causal chain, the control loop, and self-reference.