Confucianism and the continuation of anti-enlightenment / Xiaojie Chen.

Author/creator Chen, Xiaojie, 1981
Format Electronic
Publication InfoLondon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2025.
Descriptionxvii, 161 pages : illustration ; 24 cm
Supplemental ContentFull text available from eBooks on EBSCOhost
Subjects

Abstract "In 18th-century Europe, before the "Counter-Enlightenment," two coexisting perspectives emerged within the Enlightenment: the first was the belief that humans were endowed with the capacity to think independently, which led to the possibility of egalitarianism; the second was the restriction of the faculty's scope of application, which argued that the people must rely on intellectuals as their new shepherds. The latter is "Anti-Enlightenment" and anti-egalitarian. The book argues that Neo-Confucianism showed these two Enlightenment trends after the 11th century. The imperial examination reform allowed commoners to rise to the bureaucratic elite, thereby achieving top-down "enlightenment". Despite the emerging elite's claims of caring for the people, this benevolence does not expect the people to become self-sufficient adults, which brings up the book's second theme of comparing French Revolution "Fraternity" with Confucian "Benevolence". Taking "Enlightenment" and "Fraternity" as clues, the author analyses the intellectual history in four countries (China, Japan, Germany, and France), revealing not only the inherent "Anti-Enlightenment" mentality within the European Enlightenment, but also the process of "Enlightenment" commenced as early as the 11th century in China. The book will appeal to scholars of Enlightenment, intellectual history, and comparative study of East-West thought"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages [147]-156) and index.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 2025000889
ISBN9781041051114 hardback
ISBN9781041051152 paperback
ISBNebook

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