artificial impediment of Anglocentric
thinking, any number of possible alternative influences can be
considered. I do not argue that the French Encyclopédie influence
is the sole influence, nor that this view should completely
displace ideas about British influence. But one should not ignore
the work that “became almost synonymous with Enlightenment”
16 and “is generally agreed [to be] the most influential
work published in the eighteenth century”17 and described as
“the epitome of the [French Enlightenment] philosophes’
achievement.” 18 The great French Encyclopédie project was a