Rereading Diderot: the cynicism of The Rameau's Nephew

The starting point of this article is a psychoanalytic clinical assessment: the step previous to corruption is usually degradation. With this approach, I propose an updated reading of Diderot's dialogue: the cynicism of the nephew of Rameau is the ethical position correlative to the degradation of institutions and politics. It is a logical response to the fall of the ideals of the time, but not the only one. Diderot shows caution, precisely, before that widespread degradation of all elements sustaining the symbolic order, and anticipates the consequences.