Comparatism, Asiatic religions and ideas of tolerance in early XVIIIth century European culture
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In Traité sur la tolérance first published in 1762, Voltaire proposed to the Europeans a provocative and universal notion of the tolerance, by comparing Europe with Asia. Voltaire admired Asiatic tolerance and denunciated the intolerance and violence of Christianity in Europe. He considered the concept of tolerance as a political and juridical tool for managing religious differences and arrived at the notion of tolerance as a universal value, 《apanage de l'humanité》. This view is based on the general deistic trend between the end of the ⅩⅦ th and the beginning of the ⅩⅧ th century, following the interest and the astonishment of the diversities of Asiatic societies, cultures and religions. I think that noting the observation of Europe, at that period, of Asia can play an important role for understanding the correlation among the "Orient", a generic deism, and the transformation of the conception of tolerance. The observation is mainly found, on the one hand, in the Jesuit missionary works, and on the other hand, in the literatures of philosophes. Thus it is a central task to investigate these sources. In the Jesuit literatures, the tolerance was considered on the view of preaching. In particular, the evaluation of Chinese tolerance was that it is showing their substantial indifference towards all religions. We can find in Jesuits' works the traditional meaning of tolerance as endurance and sufferance and the interpretation of tolerance as a delicate tool that imposed to be careful for not confusing truth and falsehood in religion. This proposed the great value of doctrinal intolerance, conceived as the impossible acceptance of an equal value between true and false. That is to say, tolerance was very useful if one considered the goal of christian propagation in the world, but it was not acceptable at all if considered as an absolute and universal value, which could produce indifference and relativism. On the contrary, some kinds of freethinkers or philosophes criticized the madness and the intolerance of Christianity or monotheistic religions. They accepted only a moral content of these religions. Around the middle of the ⅩⅧ th century, Montesquieu approached the concept of tolerance mainly as a political tool. His political analysis gave an significant contribution to the study and the uses of religious comparatism. Cérémononies religieuses de tous les peuples du monde published in seven volumes between 1723 and 1737 is very important to scholarship, though it has not so been noted. I think that the attention for the varieties of expressions of civil and religious tolerance which we found in many writings of the ⅩⅦ th and the ⅩⅧ th centuries concerning Asiatic societies and cultures is not only an interesting problem of intellectual and cultural history of Europe in Modern age, but can be seen as a direct solicitation for another kind of investigation. I'm convinced that a more careful study of the "tolerance of the others" could not only introduce new issues for the study of ⅩⅧ th century, but become an important agenda for our contemporary conscience.
Abstract
In Traité sur la tolérance first published in 1762, Voltaire proposed to the Europeans a provocative and universal notion of the tolerance, by comparing Europe with Asia. Voltaire admired Asiatic tolerance and denunciated the intolerance and violence of Christianity in Europe. He considered the concept of tolerance as a political and juridical tool for managing religious differences and arrived at the notion of tolerance as a universal value, 《apanage de l'humanité》. This view is based on the general deistic trend between the end of the ⅩⅦ th and the beginning of the ⅩⅧ th century, following the interest and the astonishment of the diversities of Asiatic societies, cultures and religions. I think that noting the observation of Europe, at that period, of Asia can play an important role for understanding the correlation among the "Orient", a generic deism, and the transformation of the conception of tolerance. The observation is mainly found, on the one hand, in the Jesuit missionary works, and on the other hand, in the literatures of philosophes. Thus it is a central task to investigate these sources. In the Jesuit literatures, the tolerance was considered on the view of preaching. In particular, the evaluation of Chinese tolerance was that it is showing their substantial indifference towards all religions. We can find in Jesuits' works the traditional meaning of tolerance as endurance and sufferance and the interpretation of tolerance as a delicate tool that imposed to be careful for not confusing truth and falsehood in religion. This proposed the great value of doctrinal intolerance, conceived as the impossible acceptance of an equal value between true and false. That is to say, tolerance was very useful if one considered the goal of christian propagation in the world, but it was not acceptable at all if considered as an absolute and universal value, which could produce indifference and relativism. On the contrary, some kinds of freethinkers or philosophes criticized the madness and the intolerance of Christianity or monotheistic religions. They accepted only a moral content of these religions. Around the middle of the ⅩⅧ th century, Montesquieu approached the concept of tolerance mainly as a political tool. His political analysis gave an significant contribution to the study and the uses of religious comparatism. Cérémononies religieuses de tous les peuples du monde published in seven volumes between 1723 and 1737 is very important to scholarship, though it has not so been noted. I think that the attention for the varieties of expressions of civil and religious tolerance which we found in many writings of the ⅩⅦ th and the ⅩⅧ th centuries concerning Asiatic societies and cultures is not only an interesting problem of intellectual and cultural history of Europe in Modern age, but can be seen as a direct solicitation for another kind of investigation. I'm convinced that a more careful study of the "tolerance of the others" could not only introduce new issues for the study of ⅩⅧ th century, but become an important agenda for our contemporary conscience.
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