Voltaire's View of Confucius
- 주제(키워드) Voltaire , Confucius , Deism , Sinophilia
- 관리정보기술 faculty
- 등재 AHCI, SCOPUS
- 발행기관 CENTRAL CHINA NORMAL UNIV
- 발행년도 2014
- URI http://www.dcollection.net/handler/ewha/000000098448
- 본문언어 영어
초록/요약
For Voltaire, who was a representative Sinophile in France during the age of Enlightenment, Confucius was the core of his Sinophilia. Labeling religious fanaticism and intolerance as "the infamous," he used the motto "Crush the infamous!" to fight against the French Catholic Church. Voltaire criticized both the Christian religion, which has supernatural elements, and atheism. His religious viewpoint was tolerant Deism, and he found Confucianism, as a philosophical system, to be its closest equivalent, free from superstition and fanaticism. Voltaire saw Confucius as the ideal Deist and representative of Deism, which he presented as a substitute for revealed religion. The encounter of Confucius provided Voltaire with an opportunity to fundamentally reflect on European civilization and Christianity. However, Voltaire can be criticized for excessively idealizing Confucianism and distorting other Chinese religions, such as Taoism and Buddhism, through the way he used Chinese religious ideology as a tool to criticize the situation in France and Europe at the time.
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