D’Alembert: a reconciler of opposites in the Age of Enlightenment

Abstract

The text aims to introduce D’Alembert and his endeavor to reconcile the prevailing empiricism
among the encyclopedists with Descartes’ rationalist enterprise. With a geometric mindset, the author of the “Preliminary Discourse” of the Encyclopedia sought to harmonize conflicting forces that were present during the Enlightenment era. In navigating the terrain between rationalism and enlightened empiricism, the author grappled with significant intellectual challenges of his time. While maintaining a critical stance toward the metaphysical tradition, he remained within the intellectual circle of the Philosophes. However, he also sought to preserve the geometric spirit of the grand metaphysical systems of the previous century, leading to a fascinating engagement with the notions surrounding the problem of causality.