Secular Reason as a Tool of the Early Jesuit Mission to China

Abstract

This paper provides an investigation into Jesuits’ use of secular dialectical strategies during the early part of their evangelization mission in China. In order to prove the relevance of rhetoric stratagems – i. e. scientific verification, logic and universalism of norms – in their attack against Buddhism, this article examines a neglected text, Posthumous Disputes (Bianxue yidu 辯學遺牘). While the Posthumous Disputes (PD) was improperly attributed to Ricci, it is a prime example of Ricci’s accommodation method. Documenting the first re Show more