Reading the articles in Diderot's Encyclopedia is one of the best ways to understand the French Enlightenment. It shows the attitudes of the philosophes toward everything from Islam to Women to Intolerance to History. While the online translation of the Encyclopedia articles does not include the wonderful illustrations of the original, you will probably still find much of interest.Browse to an article on a topic of interest to you. Comment on what you found particularly interesting in that article.
I chose the topic America (Amerique). I found it interesting that America was named for the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci. Another thing that I found interesting about the New World what the two continents produced and offered. At such an early time in history, I didn't know that some of these products were available.
ReplyDeleteDan Gallagher
I read about fencing in the encyclopedia. I learned the proper stance for fencing. When fencing, you are to have your left foot facing your opponent and your right foot facing off to the side making a right angle. Your knees should be bent. Your torso should face away from your opponent along with your right foot. Your head should face your opponent. Direct the sword at the opponents torso and watch his eyes for what he plans to do.
ReplyDelete- Cody Martens
In the French Encyclopedia, I read an article about an article on relics since that was one of the things that was mentioned in the history class that I am taking. Relic comes from the Latin word, reliquiea, which means something that signifies what is left of a saint. In this article, it said that most people believed that there were relics of martyrs beneath every church altar.
ReplyDeleteIt was also said that in order to make sure that the relics were actually real, they would have to trace them back to their origin and this was often throughout many centuries that they would have to trace them through. It was also said that relics were often believed to perform miracles through their special properties, so the relics were actually worshipped in some way.
I chose the topic Bible, because I am very fond of religion and what the bible has to tell us. The Bible has been translated into many different languages. All of the books of the New Testament were written in Greek except for the book of Matthew which was written in Hebrew. Almost all of the books of the Old Testament have been excepted by the Jews and Christians. I didn't know that some people doubted some of the books authenticity in the books of Baruch and Esther.
ReplyDeleteMason Sundvold
I chose the topic mythology. I found it interesting that it stated it included a lot of paganism and religious rituals as well. It says mythology is common knowledge and necessary to anyone who creates things that appeal to the imagination, and I found that interesting.
ReplyDeleteI read an article about the Qur'an. It is interesting, although not surprising how similar Islam is to Christianity. This is because of the close proximity to where they were founded. I learned that the Qur'an is separated into chapters, called suras, and then subdivided. I also learned that there are seven paradises.
ReplyDeleteI searched in the database Government. The article basically talked about how a true government should look and even provided examples of how other governments are set up. One thing I thought was particularly interesting was one writer believes if you are born under some form of government, then you don't have the authority to create a new one. I find this weird, because nine out of ten people are born under some kind of government. This would mean that we would never get an idea of how other governments would function. I know every government has their problems, some more then others, and I know that some people have problems with our own US government, but nothing is perfect. It is our job to work together to help better the government to the best of our abilities.
ReplyDeleteI choose to look at the topic of Scandalous (scandaleux). I found it interesting how they portray scandalous actions as anything that can disrupt society. Now scandalous is mostly always referred to when a women is acting scandalous or dressing scandalous, but in the encyclopedia it gives examples how many other things are scandalous and that they are things we would not call scandalous.
ReplyDeleteHolly Vancura
DeleteI chose to read the article about peace. I found it interesting how the author discredited war entirely. It stated that basically greed is the main factor holding humanity back from achieving a general sense of peace and rulers are often hung up on power and expanding their kingdom, sacrificing many of their people.
ReplyDeleteI read the article on Death, I found it interesting the way that they described the event of "death". I find it interesting how it describes the way we fear death, yet in reality we fear the idea of how we die not death itself. In the end it is a very well described position on how we should not fear death and be ready for when it comes to us.
ReplyDelete-Colton Schaefer
This article shows really well the importance about the education. I do agree that education can make a better society but I do not think it is all about it. I wish nowadays they focus more on the education when it is about the politics, religions and etc... I still think we need to think more about the human being--Camila De Sousa
ReplyDeleteI chose the article Luxury to read. The term luxury is determined by your view and the lack of satisfaction in your situation. This article tells us that men desire luxury because of their desire to always want more and their virtues.But i believe that luxury depends on the person and social class. What could be something usual could be so much more to someone who is less fortunate. I think the word luxury has pretty much remained the same throughout the years.
ReplyDelete-Lauren Kunz
I read the article entitled Experience. This article talks about different ways of gaining experience. Learning more knowledge on a certain subject by experiencing it first hand or even reading about it gives one a better understanding, which in turn gives that person experience. The article said that if a man has experienced something then he is an expert. This can be true because we learn from our own experiences and therefor we are the experts of our own life and the experiences we encounter.
ReplyDelete-Melayna Waisanen