A Global Enlightenment: Western Progress and Chinese Science

The idea of progress – that civilization moves through time in a desirable direction – was a signature contribution of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. In the view of most global historians, it also spelled the end of early-modern efforts to learn from the rest of the world, as Europeans claimed a monopoly on natural science for themselves alone. In this talk, I argue instead that debates about progress did not expel non-Western knowledge from the Enlightenment, but ....