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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front. Philos. China    2018, Vol. 13 Issue (2) : 265-285    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-007-018-0021-6
Orginal Article
The Humean Way to China: Beyond the Stereotype
Emilio Mazza()
Department of Humanities, International University of Language and Media, Via Carlo Bo 4, 20143 Milan, Italy
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Abstract

David Hume seems to receive several stereotypes and commonplace sentiments about China regarding its religion, national character, government, practices and economy, that he goes on to dismantle. Doing so, he allows the eighteenth-century reader to look at China from a different perspective. This perspective can still be useful especially today, when the “immense distance” between China and Europe has been reduced and, as Hume would say, almost everything we use is Chinese. In the name of an ambivalent European tradition, we are often inclined to revive these commonplace sentiments (for example, the uniformity of Chinese character) and neglect that part of our own tradition that tries to understand what is behind them and that also offers us the tools to go beyond them. This study endeavors to assemble an array of Hume’s scattered remarks, consider them in their context, and explore their possible sources in order to obtain not only a more Humean China, but also a more Chinese Hume.

Keywords David Hume      China      stereotype     
Issue Date: 02 July 2018
 Cite this article:   
Emilio Mazza. The Humean Way to China: Beyond the Stereotype[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(2): 265-285.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-007-018-0021-6
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2018/V13/I2/265
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