Les sectes philosophiques dans La Promenade du sceptique Être sceptique sur L’Allée des marronniers

It is vain to look for Diderot’s own position in the discussion of philosophical sects in the chestnut alley in La Promenade du sceptique. The author proposes a new reading of the second part which relates it to the Discours préliminaire in the Encyclopédie and suggests that the debate and confrontation between arguments have the function of dramatizing a new model of philosophical practice. Diderot seeks to alter the course of philosophy.