Writing in an era of powerful systems and systemization, Diderot’s private thinking opened philosophy up to the irrational, the marginal, the monstrous, the sexually deviant, and other nonconformist points of view.52 His most important legacy is arguably this cacophony of individual voices and ideas.53 Readers today continue to be amazed by his willingness to give a platform to the unthinkable and the uncomfortable, and to question all received authorities and standard practices — be they religious, political, or societal. As philosophers go, Diderot is neither a Socrates nor a Descartes, nor
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