China in Later Enlightenment Political Thought (1) (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)

Synopsis

China in Later Enlightenment Political Thought examines the ideas of China in the works of mid- to late-eighteenth century European Enlightenment political thinkers.Like its predecessor volume, China in Early Enlightenment Political Thought, this book is distinctive in providing in-depth comparative analyses of works by seminal late Enlightenment thinkers that specifically link their views on China to their political concerns. It traces the shifts between metaphysical, naturalistic, economic, technological, cultural, idealist, and materialist accounts, and philosophical histories of Chinese politics, society, and culture. It argues that, unlike earlier thinkers, most of the later Enlightenment authors assessed in this book—including Christian Wolff, Voltaire, François Quesnay, Adam Smith, contributors to the Encylopédie, Abbé Raynal, Denis Diderot, and Johann Gottfried Herder—developed conceptions of history which increasingly depicted China as unprogressive and even stagnant. Even later Enlightenment enthusiasts of China such as Voltaire were deeply ambivalent about the lessons European societies could draw from China when viewed in relation to progressive visions of world history. The book also discusses the ways in which later Enlightenment theorists who were critical of aspects of European imperialism, especially Diderot and Herder, nevertheless regarded China as backward and despotic and concludes with the influence of Enlightenment conceptions of China on the philosophies of G.W.F. Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as Mao Zedong’s reappropriation of post-Enlightenment philosophy of history.This book will appeal to scholars and advanced students of Chinese history, Chinese philosophy, Chinese politics, and political philosophy more generally.

Copyright:

2026

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

172 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781040611517

Related ISBNs:

9781040591703, 9781041064343, 9781003635574

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Date of Addition:

11/03/25

Copyrighted By:

Simon Kow, The right of Simon Kow to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Politics and Government

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.