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Diderot

 

            
             The enlightenment was a great time of change in both Europe and America. Some of the biggest changes, however, happened in the minds of many and in the writings of many philosophers. These included some of the beliefs of Denis Diderot, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Francois Voltaire. Writers during this time focused on optimism, and the opinion that mankind was capable of achieving a higher standard of living through his thoughts and ideas, these philosophers set out to challenge and stretch the minds of ordinary men and women. .
             Denis Diderot was one of, if not the, leading thinkers of the period of enlightenment. In his Encyclopedia, Diderot set out to "change men's common way of thinking"#. Diderot's Encyclopedia did just that in many ways, he altered traditional ways of thought and inspired new schools of thought for philosophers that were to follow him. Men like Jean Jacques Rousseau, whose thought differed greatly from that of Diderot, and Francois Voltaire, whose thought were more in line with those of Diderot's. .
             Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712#. His childhood years proved to be a time of difficulty for Rousseau. His mother died when he was very young and he was sent to be raised by an aunt. Rousseau spent much of the rest of his childhood wandering and traveling in different countries throughout Europe. As he grew older he .
             moved to Paris to try his had at composing music, unfortunately this venture prove to be a failure, but while in Paris he did fall into a group of men who shared his interest in higher learning#. Rousseau was a man who seemed to have a great deal of difficulty interacting on a social level with some, if not many of his contemporaries, and at time he would withdraw into seclusion. The large amount of time that Rousseau spent by himself allowed him to produce many great works that got him recognized as a great intellectual mind of the time.


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