Abstract
In December 1697, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) wrote to a Jesuit friend in China, praising the Jesuit mission there as ‘‘the greatest affair of our time’’ (p. 42). The purpose of that mission, in Leibniz’s view, was not simply to glorify God and to spread Christianity; it was also being undertaken for the good of humanity and the growth of human knowledge. He went on:
For this is a commerce of light, which could give to us at once their work of thousands of years and render ours to them, and to double so to speak our true wealth for one and the other. This is something greater than one thinks
For this is a commerce of light, which could give to us at once their work of thousands of years and render ours to them, and to double so to speak our true wealth for one and the other. This is something greater than one thinks
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 111-114 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Philosophy East and West |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2007 |