He wanted to teach the artisans respect for themselves, but he also wanted to teach society at large the value of rational production. Pedagogy and Modern Encyclopedias Modern encyclopedias also focus on education. We can look at this pedagogical intent fruitfully from a poststructural perspective. Rather than being a particular element of culture or art, poststructuralism is a critical stance. Like postmodernism it rejects universal truths which it does through the method of questioning underlying presumptions.
Education is one vehicle for the power of discourses.
It questions Heidegger's presumption of an absolute truth represented in Art just as we can question the presumption of a singular universe of knowledge represented in encyclopedias. The third trait of encyclopedism is its agenda for change. As I mentioned earlier, Diderot and his colleagues were trying to establish the reign of reason over the superstition and extravagance that they perceived in their world. If it happens that those who hold the reins of government find some resistance when they use their power for the destruction not the conservation of things that rightfully belong to the people, they must blame themselve, because the public good and the advantage of society are the purposes of establishing a government. It is not the same in countries enlightened by the light of reason and philosophy.