Seeing by Touching

written by Ana Dana Beroš

photo Damir Fabijanić

Denis Diderot, the French writer and philosopher, founder of the famous Encyclopedia, author of a series of important philosophical works in which he defined the materialistic viewpoint to the world, wrote in his ‘Letter on the Blind’ in 1749: ‘I have discovered that of all the senses, the eye is most superficial, the ear most arrogant, the sense of smell the most lecherous, taste the most superstitious and least consistent, while touch is most profound and philosophical.’[1]



[1]Denis Diderot was one of the founders of the monumental enterprise that presented a synthesis of the knowledge of that era, but it was also a plan to capsize the obsolete social system. As a member of the circle of free thinkers in the 18th century, he played a huge role in the ideological preparations of the ‘third class’ to challenge l’ancien régime. He gathered the best minds of his time around the Encyclopedia and personally revised every volume, as well as writing several hundred articles.