Body, representation and the world: the concept of reality in Denis Diderot's philosophy

Abstract

What do we really mean when we say "reality"? Helping to better understand the answer we usually give to this question is the general intent of this text. For this, more specifically, we will analyze how the concept of reality in Denis Diderot's materialistic philosophy can help us. The modern notion of reality in Diderot runs through three fundamental dimensions: the transcendental, intersubjective, and subjective aspects. Both aspects are essentially related to the diderotian understanding of the human body. The deliberate representation we make of the real world passes first through body representation, that is, by the lodging of our own body in the midst of other bodies.