1. Introduction

Describing the Éléments de physiologie as ‘one long series of jolts’, Warman opens The Atheist’s Bible by arguing that Diderot’s oft-overlooked work made an electrifying contribution to existing discourses on matter, the natural world, and human consciousness. The human being, for Diderot, is not a supreme life form but rather a composite of shifting elements and assemblages. In the context of the eighteenth century, this materialist conception of the body was considered to be a transgressive rejection of theism and, as a result, the Éléments was published only after Diderot’s death. The chapter also briefly outlines the structure and contents of both the Éléments de physiologie and The Atheist’s Bible, as Warman sets up Diderot’s work as a potential answer to the universal question of human nature in both its moral and physiological aspects.