ABSTRACT
Diderot's sociology of the pantomime du monde can be characterized by its overtly hierarchical organization, a structure that is problematized as one that bears almost sado-masochistic dimensions. Sensibilite and mimetic rationality do not exist independently, but are configured together within a polarized tension that is itself structured in theatrical terms. Such a sociology of the theatrum mundi divides society into two players: those who are mimetically empowered and therefore know how to play the games of social interaction, and those who become their victims. The theatrum mundi perpetuates the hierarchy between the deluder and the deluded, between active and passive, between intellect and feeling, between those who alienate and those who become alienated. Such a theatrically-defined sociology assumes an inevitable misalignment of power relations. Although Diderot recognizes social alienation as a critical phenomenon, he nevertheless fully acknowledges a fundamentally theatrical condition of social reality.
