Introduction to the Great Principles: A New Reader's Edition

His materialism begins to resemble metaphysics in spite of itself, a system whose explanatory power exceeds its evidentiary basis. In Introduction to the Great Principles, the edition contains a new Afterword by the translator, a short biography, a glossary of Philosophical Terms used by Diderot, a chronology of his core life and works, and a summary index of all of Diderot's works. Though not published in Diderot's lifetime (it remained in manuscript until years later), Introduction aux grands principes provides a revealing look at Diderot's philosophical priorities and the intellectual atmosphere of its creation. The philosophical content of the piece revolves primarily around ethics and the purpose of philosophy itself. Diderot posits that the ultimate goal of philosophy is human happiness, and directly, he ties that happiness to virtue. One of the memorable lines attributed to this work is, "The path to happiness is the very path of virtue." In this single aphorism, we glean a central tenet of Diderot's outlook: that moral goodness and personal well being are not opposites but deeply aligned.