When I was looking in the encyclopedie, I found several quotes from Diderot which tell us a lot about his character, there is one in the 'Art' Article which says, "It is for the liberal arts to lift the mechanical arts from the contempt in which prejudice has for so long held them, and it is for the patronage of kings to draw them from the poverty in which they still languish" i think he thought of himself as one of these 'kings' or leaders i suppose to get people to recognise the talent of the artists in his Art articles.
Another one whch also reflects this is "Artisans have believed themselves contemptible because people have looked down on them; let us teach them to have a better opinion of themselves; that is the only way to obtain more nearly perfect results from them" This ties in very closely with the enlightenment movement; ie. the more we learn about something the better we are. The creation of this encyclopaedia was seen as a very positive thing for everybody involved.
He wanted to spread knowledge and experience of great, inspiring art (in the art volume) which again reflects the enlightenment movement, and the idea of bettering yourself with knowledge; "[we need a man to go gather information from academies and workshops]...and to set it out in a book which will persuade artisans to read, philosophers to think on useful lines, and the great to make at least some worthwhile use of their authority and wealth"
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