Diderot was one of the philosophers during the Enlightenment period. He was not himself anti-religious, as he had even gone to seminary before devoting his life to writing, but he aimed to "liberate God" from the "shackles" of the Church, as he saw it. He once said: "I am a Christian because it is reasonable to do so."
Le Breton, a bookseller, invited Diderot to become the editor of the French encyclopaedia. His task was to produce, in one set of books, a summary of all knowledge that man possessed. Diderot was the real instigator of L'encyclopedie. He persuaded many other French writers, known as the philosophes, including Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau to collaborate. L'encyclopedia was by far Diderot's biggest contribution to the Enlightenment. This was also the only work on which nearly all of the philosophes collaborated. In this sense, it symbolises the Enlightenment and what it tried to achieve.
Le Breton, a bookseller, invited Diderot to become the editor of the French encyclopaedia. His task was to produce, in one set of books, a summary of all knowledge that man possessed. Diderot was the real instigator of L'encyclopedie. He persuaded many other French writers, known as the philosophes, including Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau to collaborate. L'encyclopedia was by far Diderot's biggest contribution to the Enlightenment. This was also the only work on which nearly all of the philosophes collaborated. In this sense, it symbolises the Enlightenment and what it tried to achieve.