ABSTRACT
When the philosophes began to speak of themselves, it was only a matter of time before criticism became self-criticism. All the world's a stage, and the philosophe must be the one person who refuses to step foot on it. D'Alembert's final word is that intellectuals should give only their external selves to the existing arrangements and tactfully sidestep direct confrontation with the prejudice that underpins the social order. Were we to discover an unguarded entrance to the mind of the philosophe, we would find that inside his self-possessed exterior there is a divided self engaged in a dialogue of self-doubt. This chapter suggests that Rameau's Nephew was a contribution to an ongoing discussion on social prospects of philosophes that readily passed over to an expression of deep dissatisfaction and outright disgust with the existing social order. His growing republicanism was part of a larger transformation in the outlook of a major segment of the philosophical party.
