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Title "China" and the Emergence of Religious Toleration in Enlightenment Philosophers, Part II: Voltaire\'s Project of Universal Toleration and the Legacy of Intercultural Self-Critique
Authors Hui, Xianzhe , WENNING, MARIO
External publication No
Means Philos. Compass
Scope Article
Nature Científica
SJR Quartile 1
Publication date 01/11/2024
ISI 001369917400001
DOI 10.1111/phc3.70013
Abstract This article explores the significance of engaging in intercultural reversals of perspectives by reconstructing Voltaire\'s reflections on the relationship between China and Europe. It highlights the ensuing ethics of universal religious tolerance in this civilizational comparison. Voltaire employed China as a heuristic model primarily to criticize the intolerance and fanaticism of French Catholics. He also used the methodology of intercultural reversals of perspectives to articulate his arguments for universal religious toleration. This paper\'s focus on the philosophical reception of China reveals the emergence of what we call "intercultural self-critique" and an important conception of religious toleration during the European Enlightenment.
Keywords China; intercultural self-critique; religious toleration; the Enlightenment; voltaire
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