Japanese philosophers on society and culture : Nishida Kitarō, Watsuji Tetsurō, and Kuki Shūzō

In every part of the world and in every era, philosophers have reflected on the meaning of culture and its philosophical significance. Japanese Philosophers on Society and Culture:Nishida Kitarō, Watsuji Tetsurō, and Kuki Shūzō explores how three of Japan's preeminent philosophers of the twentieth century — Nishida Kitarō, Watsuji Tetsurō and Kuki Shūzō — defined culture and analyzed what it tells us about social relations. Graham Mayeda also explores little-known aspects of the work of each philosopher, including a philosophical analysis of Watsuji's travel diary, Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples in Nara , the place of intuition in Kuki's ethics of otherness, and the role of culture in realizing Nishida's concept of reality as the historical world. Each of these three philosophers adapted philosophical methodologies such as phenomenology, hermeneutics, and dialectical logic to studying the traditional sources of Japanese culture: Confucianism, Buddhism, Bushidō and Shintō. This book focuses on the way that Nishida, Watsuji and Kuki critiqued the methodologies that they adopted from European philosophy and modified them to reflect the values that form the basis of their own cultural tradition. Finally, Mayeda engages with the problem of cultural essentialism by identifying the progressive and conservative elements of each philosopher's characterization of Japanese culture. Cover Japanese Philosophers on Society and Culture Japanese Philosophers on Society and Culture: Nishida Kitarō, Watsuji Tetsurō, and Kuki Shūzō Copyright Page Dedication Page Contents Chapter 1 Japanese Cultural and Social Philosophy in Context New Texts and Novel Perspectives: The Focus of This Book Watsuji, Kuki, and Nishida on Culture and Society The Philosophy of Culture in Europe in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Japanese Culture and Japanese Nationalism Why Study Japanese Cultural and Social Philosophy? Notes Chapter 2 Watsuji Tetsurō’s Early Views on Culture THE THREE FACETS OF CULTURE: CONSTRUCTED, DYNAMIC, AND PHILOSOPHICAL Background: Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples in Nara—Publication, Themes, and Structure The Three Facets of Culture as Construct Toward a Philosophical Analysis of Culture: Pilgrimages as a Prelude to Watsuji’s Later Works Conclusion: Traces of Watsuji’s Philosophical Analysis of Culture Notes Chapter 3 The Development of Watsuji’s Theory of Culture and Climate FROM PILGRIMAGES TO THE ANCIENT TEMPLES IN NARA TO CLIMATE AND CULTURE Situating Climate and Culture in Relation to European Philosophy The Purpose of Climate and Culture: Identifying the Phenomenological Structures of Intersubjectivity Space and Time: Fundamental Structures of Human Experience Disclosed through Culture and Climate From Method to Cultural Milieu Notes Chapter 4 Watsuji’s Three Climatic and Cultural Zones CLIMATE AND CULTURE: SEPARATING ESSENTIALIST AND NON-ESSENTIALIST STRANDS IN WATSUJI’S THOUGHT The Three Cultural Types Spatial Aspects of Climate and Culture Temporal Aspects of Climate and Culture Nondeterministic Elements of Watsuji’s Theory of Climate and Culture Similarities between Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples in Nara and Climate and Culture Deterministic and Essentialist Aspects of Watsuji’s Theory of Culture The Roots of Geographic Determinism in Watsuji’s Interpretation of Heidegger The Transition from Cultural Phenomenology to Ethics Conclusion Notes Chapter 5 Kuki’s Hermeneutic Approach to the Floating World An Introduction to Kuki’s The Structure of Iki Kuki’s Hermeneutic Method: Adaptation and Innovation The Influence of Bergson on Kuki’s Interpretation of Hermeneutics Influence and Originality: Kuki’s Hermeneutic Method Notes Chapter 6 Kuki and Heidegger The Origins of Hermeneutics in Husserl—“To the Things Themselves!”2 Heidegger’s Phenomenological Method—The Hermeneutics of Facticity as Fundamental Ontology Kuki’s Hermeneutic Interpretation of Japanese Culture Kuki’s Concept of Culture: Iki as the Meaning of a Japanese Worldview Conclusion: Culture as the Rediscovery of Iki Notes Chapter 7 Kuki Shūzō’s Concepts of Culture and Society KUKI’S CONCEPTS OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY Chance and the Ethical Intuition of Freedom The Influence of French Philosophy and Heideggerian Existential Phenomenology on Kuki Evaluating the Success of Kuki’s Solution to the Puzzle of the Individual and Intersubjective Nature of Ethical Experience Notes Chapter 8 Nishida Who We Are as Individuals Who Are the Others? Overcoming Our Everyday Notion of Self: Recognizing Our Fundamental Co-Origination with Others as the Activity of Cultural Production Notes Chapter 9 Nishida’s Views on Morality and Culture The Historical Body and the Historical World as the Contextual Unfolding of Absolute Reality How Should We Live as Social Beings? Nishida’s View of Ethical and Moral Life Expressing Our True Self in Science, Art, and Morality Expressing Our Moral and Ethical Obligations in Society What Can We Learn from Nishida for Our Globalized World? Notes Conclusion The Background to a Study of Japanese Cultural Thought in the Twentieth Century Inspired by Watsuji: Culture as an Ongoing Process of Responding to the Physical and Social Environment Inspired by Kuki: Cultural Ideals as Ethical Ideals—A Japanese Ethics of Difference Inspired by Nishida: Culture as World Religious Culture Concluding Words Notes Works Cited Abbreviations Works Cited Index About the Author In every part of the world and in every era, philosophers have reflected on the meaning of culture and its philosophical significance. 'Japanese Philosophers on Society and Culture: Nishida Kitar?, Watsuji Tetsur?, and Kuki Sh?z?' explores how three of Japan's preeminent philosophers of the twentieth century?Nishida Kitar?, Watsuji Tetsur? and Kuki Sh?z??defined culture and analyzed what it tells us about social relations. Graham Mayeda also explores little-known aspects of the work of each philosopher, including a philosophical analysis of Watsuji's travel diary, Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples in Nara, the place of intuition in Kuki's ethics of otherness, and the role of culture in realizing Nishida's concept of reality as the historical world. Each of these three philosophers adapted philosophical methodologies such as phenomenology, hermeneutics, and dialectical logic to studying the traditional sources of Japanese culture: Confucianism, Buddhism, Bushid? and Shint?. This book focuses on the way that Nishida, Watsuji and Kuki critiqued the methodologies that they adopted from European philosophy and modified them to reflect the values that form the basis of their own cultural tradition. Finally, Mayeda engages with the problem of cultural essentialism by identifying the progressive and conservative elements of each philosopher's characterization of Japanese culture "What is culture? What can we learn from art, architecture, and fashion about how people relate? Can cultures embody ethical and moral ideals? These are just some of the questions addressed in this book on the cultural philosophy of three preeminent Japanese philosophers of the early twentieth century, Nishida Kitarō, Watsuji Tetsurō and Kuki Shūzō"-- Provided by publisher