FRANÇOIS NOËL, S. J. (1651−1729): BYLI STAROVĚCÍ ČÍŇANÉ ATEISTÉ?
FRANÇOIS NOËL, S. J. (1651−1729): WERE THE ANCIENT CHINESE ATHEISTS?
Author(s): Daniel D. NovotnýSubject(s): Christian Theology and Religion
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: François Noël; Sino-Western Communication; Baroque Scholasticism; Atheism; Philosophia sinica; Chinese Metaphysics; Traditions; Hermeneutics
Summary/Abstract: The first deeper exchange between Western and Far Eastern religious and philosophical thought was due to the Jesuits. They arrived in China in the 16th century and began the impressive work of translation and dialogue. The Belgian Jesuit François Noël made an important contribution to this dialogue with his Philosophia sinica (1711). What is this book about? Apparently, its main purpose was to provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of the Chinese Confucian tradition, past and contemporary, although it can also to be read as the last major contribution to the rites controversy. In this paper I deal with the first part of the first treatise of Noël’s Philosophia which aimed to show that the Ancient Chinese tradition was theist and grasped numerous truths of natural theology.
Journal: Studia theologica
- Issue Year: XVI/2014
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 111–132
- Page Count: 22
- Language: Czech