[Discours sur la théologie naturelle des Chinois] of G. W. Leibniz

I participated in a round table on "Orient-Occident: les images du monde," organized by Nantes IAS, June 25, 2015, 6:00-7:30 PM.

The title of my talk was "La métaphysique européenne rencontre la philosophie de l’Extrême-Orient : une lecture de la Novissima Sinica de Leibniz."
But it was also based on a reading of Discours sur la théologie naturelle des Chinois (1716).


[References]

Novissima Sinica historiam nostri temporis illustratura, in quibus de Christianismo publica nunc primum autoritate propagato missa in Europam relatio exhibetur, deque favore scientiarum Europaearum ac moribus gentis & ipsius praesertim Monarchae, tum & de bello Sinensium cum Moscis ac pace constituta, multa hactenus ignota explicantur ... indicem dabit pagina versa, [S.l.], 1697; ... edente G. G. L. [Leibnitio]... 2a editio..., [S.l.]: [s.n.], 1699, 375 p., portrait, in-8

·        English translation: The Preface to Leibniz’ Novissima Sinica: Commentary, Translation, Text, [by] Donald F. Lach, University of Hawaii Press, 1957; …, Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI, 1998, x-104 p., ports., 22 cm

·        German translation: Novissima Sinica (1697): Das Neueste von China, mit ergänzenden Dokumenten hrsg., übers. und erl. von Heinz-Günther Nesselrath und Hermann Reinbothe, Köln: Deutsche China-Gesellschaft, 1979; …, Nachdr. der Ausg. 1979, mit einem Vorw., aktualisiertem Literaturverz. und Reg. von Gregor Paul und Adolf Grünert, München: Iudicium, 2011, 1 vol. (xv-180 p.), 25 cm

·        Chinese translation: 萊布尼茲 著, 梅謙拉(Thierry Meynard)及楊保筠 譯, [中國近事: 為了照亮我們這個時代的歷史], 鄭州: 大象出版社, 2005

Discours sur la théologie naturelle des Chinois: plus quelques écrits sur la question religieuse de Chine, présentés, trad. et annot. par Christiane Frémont, Paris: l’Herne, 1987, 214 p., 22 cm; …, hrsg. und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Wenchao Li und Hans Poser, Frankfurt am Main: V. Klostermann, 2002, 308 p., fac-sim., 30 cm

·        English translation: Discourse on the Natural Theology of the Chinese, translated, with an introduction, notes, and commentaries by Daniel J. Cook and Henry Rosemont, Jr., Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1977; Revised edition: Writings on China, …, Chicago: Open Court, 1994, xvi-157 p., ill., map, 24 cm
 

Theology and Law in Medieval Europe - Related Articles in the Journal of Religious History (December 2013)

Journal of Religious History

© Religious History Association

Special Issue

December 2013

Volume 37, Issue 4

 

1. Law, Theology, and Praxis ca. 1140-1380: New Approaches to the Study of Law and Theology in Medieval Europe - Constant J. Mews
   
   
2. Theology, Practice, and Policy at the Turn of the Thirteenth Century: the Papacy and Peter Lombard (pages 441–456) - Clare Monagle
   
   
3. The Reception of Gratian's Tractatus de penitentia and the Relationship between Canon Law and Theology in the Second Half of the Twelfth Century (pages 457–473) - Atria A. Larson
   
   
4. Law, Theology, and Morality: Conceptions of the Rights to Relief of the Poor in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (pages 474–493) - Jason Taliadoros
   
   
5. Attendant to a Higher Judge: Competing Paradigms of Legal Practice in the Thought of Alexander Neckam (1157–1217) (pages 494–509) - Tomas Zahora
   
   
6. Making Practicality a Virtue: Morality, Law, and Fortitude in Giovanni da Legnano's De Bello (pages 510–527) - Jasonne M. Grabher
    

Conference at Nantes, France, January 20-21, 2016

I'm very pleased to announce that the Conference, "Theological Foundations of Modern Constitutional Theory: 16th-17th Centuries," will be held at Nantes Institute for Advanced Study, France, January 20-21, 2016.

 

List of confirmed participants and topics

(in alphabetical order of last name):

1. Thomas Ahnert (University of Edinburgh) - "Christian Thomasius (1655-1728)"
2. Andre Santos Campos (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) - "The Social Contract Tradition(s): Agreements and Reconstructions"
3. Cristina Ciucu (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris) - "Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) sur la réforme religieuse et sociale"
4. Hugues Daussy (Université de Franche-Comté) - "Les "lois et constitutions du royaume" dans la pensée politique huguenote"
5. Marta García-Alonso (Universidad nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid) - "Pierre Bayle: la souveraineté, condition de la tolérance"
6. Cécile Huchard (Université de Lorraine) - "Théorie constitutionnelle dégagée des pamphlets protestants français des Guerres de religion"
7. Jonathan Israel (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) - "Anti-Theological Foundations of Modern Constitutional Theory: The Dutch Revolt and the Dutch Republican Tradition in European Context (1572-1688)"
8. John Christian Laursen (University of California at Riverside) - "Erasmus and Arguments for Toleration from Christian Cynicism"
9. Sarah Mortimer (Christ Church, Oxford) - "Hugo Grotius: Christianity, Liberty and the Commonwealth"
10. Thomas Poole (London School of Economics and Political Science) - "Theology and Constitutional Theory in Thomas Hobbes and James Harrington"
11. Mario Turchetti (Université de Fribourg) - ""Bon prince et mauvais prince" dans l'Institutio principis Christiani (1516) d'Érasme (1469-1536)"
12. John Witte, Jr. (Emory University Law School, Atlanta - chapter contributor) - "Prophets, Priests, and Kings: John Milton and the Reformation of Rights and Liberties in England" (or, "A New Magna Carta for the Early Common Law: An 800th Anniversary Essay")
13. Ki-Won Hong (Seoul National University) - "Theological Foundations of G. W. Leibniz's Conception of Universal Republic"