Diderot's natural morals

• Grant number: 22/14137-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2023
• End date: January 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Ethics
• Principal Investigator: Arlenice Almeida da Silva
• Grantee: Luiz Fernando Dias dos Santos
• Host Institution: Escola de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (EFLCH). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Guarulhos. Guarulhos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The research intends to examine Diderot's moral proposal based on his philosophical materialism. Specifically, to analyze how Diderot responds to the moral problem of his time, in which an investigation is located on the possibility of man being virtuous or adopting a moral conduct, without God. In Philosophical Thoughts, from 1746, Diderot takes a step in this direction, joining the great anti-Christian offensive of some philosophers, by criticizing the hypocrisy of religious leaders and some of the faithful. However, important steps towards a natural and secular morality occur, respectively, in his novel The Religious (1760), in the Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage (1772), and in the Dialogue of a Philosopher with the Marshal (1774). Examining in detail the arguments present in these texts, we intend to show, especially, not only the possibility, but the scope of Diderot's moral project; and, finally, from the concept of nature, to emphasize the importance of its materialist conception as a foundation for its natural morality.