A reference theory of globalized ideas

The essay attempts to develop categories for a global intellectual history that can deal with both temporal and spatial long distances. It is based on the observation that, in the case of long distances in the pre-modern period, incorrect references have often been made, since there was still insufficient information to ensure the correct “reach” of the reference. Therefore the essay develops a kind of reference theory of pre-modern global reaching out and shows how a global intellectual history can be designed from there, which is underpinned with concrete contexts. Non-Eurocentric narratives and a sense of the entanglement of ideas are essential to such a history.