Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine: Evolutionary Theory and Religion in Modern Japan (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)

Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine is the first book in English on the history of evolutionary theory in Japan. Bringing to life more than a century of ideas, G. Clinton Godart examines how and why Japanese intellectuals, religious thinkers of different faiths, philosophers, biologists, journalists, activists, and ideologues engaged with evolutionary theory and religion. How did Japanese religiously think about evolution? What were their main concerns? Did they reject evolution on religious grounds, or-as was more often the case-how did they combine evolutionary theory with their religious beliefs? Evolutionary theory was controversial and never passively accepted in Japan: It took a hundred years of appropriating, translating, thinking, and debating to reconsider the natural world and the relation between nature, science, and the sacred in light of evolutionary theory. Since its introduction in the nineteenth century, Japanese intellectuals-including Buddhist, Shinto, Confucian, and Christian thinkers-in their own ways and often with opposing agendas, struggled to formulate a meaningful worldview after Darwin. In the decades that followed, as the Japanese redefined their relation to nature and built a modern nation-state, the debates on evolutionary theory intensified and state ideologues grew increasingly hostile toward its principles. Throughout the religious reception of evolution was dominated by a long-held fear of the idea of nature and society as cold and materialist, governed by the mindless "struggle for survival." This aversion endeavored many religious thinkers, philosophers, and biologists to find goodness and the divine within nature and evolution. It was this drive, argues Godart, that shaped much of Japan's modern intellectual history and changed Japanese understandings of nature, society, and the sacred. Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine will contribute significantly to two of the most debated topics in the history of evolutionary theory: religion and the political legacy of evolution. It will, therefore, appeal to the broad audience interested in Darwin studies as well as students and scholars of Japanese intellectual history, religion, and philosophy Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine is the first book in English on the history of evolutionary theory in Japan. Bringing to life more than a century of ideas, G. Clinton Godart examines how and why Japanese intellectuals, religious thinkers of different faiths, philosophers, biologists, journalists, activists, and ideologues engaged with evolutionary theory and religion. How did Japanese religiously think about evolution? What were their main concerns? Did they reject evolution on religious grounds, or--as was more often the case--how did they combine evolutionary theory with their religious beliefs? Evolutionary theory was controversial and never passively accepted in Japan: It took a hundred years of appropriating, translating, thinking, and debating to reconsider the natural world and the relation between nature, science, and the sacred in light of evolutionary theory. Since its introduction in the nineteenth century, Japanese intellectuals--including Buddhist, Shinto, Confucian, and Christian thinkers--in their own ways and often with opposing agendas, struggled to formulate a meaningful worldview after Darwin. In the decades that followed, as the Japanese redefined their relation to nature and built a modern nation-state, the debates on evolutionary theory intensified and state ideologues grew increasingly hostile toward its principles. Throughout the religious reception of evolution was dominated by a long-held fear of the idea of nature and society as cold and materialist, governed by the mindless?struggle for survival.? This aversion endeavored many religious thinkers, philosophers, and biologists to find goodness and the divine within nature and evolution. It was this drive, argues Godart, that shaped much of Japan's modern intellectual history and changed Japanese understandings of nature, society, and the sacred. Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine will contribute significantly to two of the most debated topics in the history of evolutionary theory: religion and the political legacy of evolution. It will, therefore, appeal to the broad audience interested in Darwin studies as well as students and scholars of Japanese intellectual history, religion, and philosophy--from publisher's website __Darwin, Dharma, and the Divine__ demonstrates that evolutionary theory was never passively accepted, but played active and controversial roles in modern Japanese thought. Evolutionary theory was controversial and of a major concern to Japanese Buddhist, Shintō, Confucian, and Christian thinkers, who actively debated and contested the theory. As the Japanese redefined their relation to the world, to nature, and built a modern nation-state, evolutionary theory also became an intellectual battleground, and Japanese state ideology became increasingly hostile to evolutionary theory. Japanese intellectuals and religious thinkers actively and constructively, and often critically, appropriated evolutionary theory for a wide variety of ends, but the religious reception of evolution in Japan was dominated by a long and continuous fear of the idea of nature and society as a cold, materialist, world, governed by a mindless “struggle for survival.” This aversion engendered many religious thinkers, philosophers, and biologists, to find goodness, beauty, and the divine within nature and evolution itself. It was this drive that shaped much of Japan’s modern intellectual history, and changed Japanese understandings of nature, society, and the sacred. Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 Chapter One. The Religious Transmission of Evolutionary Theory in Meiji-Era Japan 28 Chapter Two. Evolution, Individuals, and the Kokutai 54 Chapter Three. The Dharma after Darwin: Meiji Buddhism and the Embrace of Evolution 81 Chapter Four. The Promise of Utopia: Socialist Darwinism and Evolutionary Utopianism 130 Chapter Five. “Evolutionary Theory Is the Superstition of Modernity” 168 Chapter Six. Kannon’s Enduring Embrace 206 Conclusion 240 Notes 248 Bibliography 290 Index 304 A 304 B 304 C 304 D 305 E 305 F 306 G 306 H 306 I 306 J 307 K 307 L 308 M 308 N 309 O 310 P 310 R 310 S 310 T 312 U 312 V 312 W 312 Y 312 Examines the history of evolutionary theory in Japan. Bringing to life more than a century of ideas, G. Clinton Godart examines how and why Japanese intellectuals, religious thinkers of different faiths, philosophers, biologists, journalists, activists, and ideologues engaged with evolutionary theory and religion.