The Philosophy Book

256

See also: Søren Kierkegaard 194–95 ■ Friedrich Nietzsche 214–21 ■

Nishida Kitaro 336–37 ■ Hajime Tanabe 244–45 ■ Martin Heidegger 252–55

T

etsuro Watsuji was one of

the leading philosophers

in Japan in the early part

of the 20th century, and he wrote

on both Eastern and Western

philosophy. He studied in Japan and

Europe, and like many Japanese

philosophers of his time, his work

shows a creative synthesis of these

two very different traditions.

Forgetting the self

Watsuji’s studies of Western

approaches to ethics convinced him

that thinkers in the West tend to

take an individualistic approach to

human nature, and so also to ethics.

But for Watsuji, individuals can only

be understood as expressions of

their particular times, relationships,

and social contexts, which together

constitute a “climate”. He explores

the idea of human nature in terms

of our relationships with the wider

THE INDIVIDUAL’S ONLY

TRUE MORAL CHOICE IS

THROUGH SELF-SACRIFICE

FOR THE COMMUNITY

TETSURO WATSUJI (1889–1960)

Samurai warriors often sacrificed

their own lives in battle in order to save

the state, in an act of extreme loyalty

and self-negation that Watsuji called

kenshin, or “absolute self-sacrifice.”

community, which form a network

within which we exist; Watsuji calls

this “betweenness.” For Watsuji

ethics is a matter not of individual

action, but of the forgetting or

sacrifice of one’s self, so that the

individual can work for the benefit

of the wider community.

Watsuji’s nationalist ethics and

insistence on the superiority of the

Japanese race led to his fall from

favor following World War II,

although he later distanced himself

from these views. ■

IN CONTEXT

BRANCH

Ethics

APPROACH

Existentialism

BEFORE

13th century Japanese

philosopher D ̄ogen writes

about “forgetting the self.”

Late 19th century Friedrich

Nietzsche writes about the

influence of “climate” on

philosophy; this idea becomes

important to Watsuji’s thought.

1927 Martin Heidegger

publishes Being and Time.

Watsuji goes on to rethink

Heidegger’s book in the light of

his ideas on “climate”.

AFTER

Late 20th century Japanese

philosopher Yuasa Yasuo

further develops Watsuji’s

ethics of community.