A Brief Introduction to the Study of Human Nature: Giulio Aleni: 29 (Jesuit Studies)

Thierry Meynard and Dawei Pan offer a highly detailed annotated translation of one of the major works of Giulio Aleni (1582 Brescia–1649 Yanping), a Jesuit missionary in China. Referred to by his followers as “Confucius from the West”, Aleni made his presence felt in the early modern encounter between China and Europe. The two translators outline the complexity of the intellectual challenges that Aleni faced and the extensive conceptual resources on which he built up a fine-grained framework with the aim of bridging the Chinese and Christian spiritual traditions.

Thierry Meynard is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Archives for the Introduction of Western Learning in China at Sun Yat-sen University. He has authored several books, including The Jesuit Reading of Confucius (Leiden: Brill, 2015).

Dawei Pan, MD, is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Sun Yatsen University. Pan has published articles on the philosophy of medicine in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Argumentation, Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, and Philosophy East and West.