Tetsuro Watsuji

Tetsuro Watsuji
Born	March 1, 1889 Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture
Died	December 26, 1960 (aged 71)
Education	Himeji Chugakko
Alma mater	First Higher School Imperial University of Tokyo
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Japanese philosophy
School	Continental Kyoto School Watsuji Rinrigaku (Watsuji Ethics)
Institutions	Toyo University Hosei University Imperial University of Kyoto Ryukoku University Otani University
Main interests	Aesthetics, Ethics, Culture, Religion
Notable ideas	Being and Space (not just Time); Ethics as Philosophical Anthropology

Tetsuro Watsuji (和かず辻つじ 哲郎てつろう, Watsuji Tetsurō, March 1, 1889 – December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.

Early life

Watsuji was born in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture to a physician. During his youth he enjoyed poetry and had a passion for Western literature. For a short time he was the coeditor of a literary magazine and was involved in writing poems and plays. His interests in philosophy came to light while he was a student at First Higher School in Tokyo, although his interest in literature would always remain strong throughout his life.

In his early writings (between 1913 and 1915) he introduced the work of Søren Kierkegaard to Japan, as well as working on Friedrich Nietzsche, but in 1918 he turned against this earlier position, criticizing Western philosophical individualism, and attacking its influence on Japanese thought and life. This led to a study of the roots of Japanese culture, including Japanese Buddhist art, and notably the work of the medieval Zen Buddhist Dōgen. Watsuji was also interested in the famous Japanese writer Natsume Sōseki, whose books were influential during Watsuji's early years.

Career

In the early 1920s Watsuji taught at Toyo, Hosei and Keio universities, and at Tsuda Eigaku-juku (now, Tsuda University).

The issues of hermeneutics attracted his attention, especially the hermeneutics of Boeckh and Dilthey.

In March 1925, Watsuji became a lecturer at Kyoto Imperial University, joining the other leading philosophers of the time, Nishida Kitaro, Tanabe Hajime and Nishitani Keiji. These three philosophers were members of the Kyoto School. While Watsuji joined their department, he is not typically considered a member of the School due to the intellectual independence in his work. In July, he was promoted to associate professor of ethics.

In January 1927, it was decided that he would go to Germany for 3 years for his research on the history of moral thought. He departed on 17th February and finally arrived in Berlin in early April. In the beginning of summer, he read Heidegger’s Being and Time which had just come out. He then went to Paris. He left Paris in early December and arrived in Genoa on the 12th of that month.

From January to March 1928, he travelled to Rome, Naples, Sicily, Florence, Bologna, Ravenna, Padua and Venice. He then cut his trip short, returning to Japan in early July. So his stay in Europe only lasted for roughly a year.

In March 1931, he was promoted to full professor at Kyoto Imperial University.

He then moved to the Tokyo Imperial University in July 1934 and held the chair in ethics until his retirement in March 1949.

During World War II his theories (which claimed the superiority of Japanese approaches to and understanding of human nature and ethics, and argued for the negation of self) provided support for Japanese nationalism, a fact which, after the war, he said that he regretted.

Watsuji died at the age of 71.

Work

Watsuji's three main works were his two-volume 1954 History of Japanese Ethical Thought, his three-volume Ethics, first published in 1937, 1942, and 1949, and his 1935 Climate. The last of these develops his most distinctive thought. In it, Watsuji argues for an essential relationship between climate and other environmental factors and the nature of human cultures, and he distinguished three types of culture: pastoral, desert, and monsoon.

Watsuji wrote that Kendo involves raising a struggle to a life-transcending level by freeing oneself from an attachment to life.

List of works

Collected Works [和かず辻つじ哲郎てつろう全集ぜんしゅう], 27 vols. (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1961-91) [CW].

CW1

• Studies on Nietzsche [ニイチェ研究けんきゅう] (Uchida Rôkakuho [内田うちだ老ろう鶴づる圃], 1913), reprinted in CW1:1-391.
• Søren Kierkegaard [ゼエレン・キェルケゴオル] (Uchida Rôkakuho [内田うちだ老ろう鶴づる圃], 1915), reprinted in CW1:393-679.

CW2

• Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples [古寺ふるでら巡礼じゅんれい] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1919), reprinted in CW2:1-192.
• Katsura Imperial Villa: Investigating the Background Behind Its Style [桂かつら離宮りきゅう——様式ようしきの背後はいごを探さぐる] (Chûô Kôronsha [中央公論社ちゅうおうこうろんしゃ], 1958), reprinted in CW2:192-386.

Originally published as Katsura Imperial Villa: Reflections on Its Construction Process [桂かつら離宮りきゅう——製作せいさく過程かていの考察こうさつ] (Chûô Kôronsha [中央公論社ちゅうおうこうろんしゃ], 1955), it was significantly rewritten after receiving criticism from the architectural historian Ôta Hirotarô.

• ‘Eyes of the Haniwa Statue’ [人物じんぶつ埴輪はにわの眼め] (Sekai [世界せかい], January 1956), reprinted in CW2:387-392.
• ‘What the Maijishan Grottoes Tell Us’ [麦むぎ積つむ山さん塑像そぞうの示唆しさするもの] (Preface to Natori Yōnosuke, Bakusekizan Sekkutsu [麦むぎ積せき山石やまいし窟くつ], Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1957), reprinted in CW2:392-400.

CW3

• Ancient Japanese Culture [日本にっぽん古代こだい文化ぶんか] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1920), reprinted in CW3:1-305.
• The Hidden Japan [埋うずもれた日本にっぽん] (Shinchôsha [新潮社しんちょうしゃ], 1951), reprinted in CW3:307-507.

CW4

• Studies on Japanese Intellectual History, Vol. 1 [日本にっぽん精神せいしん史し研究けんきゅう] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1926), reprinted in CW4:1-271.
• Studies on Japanese Intellectual History, Vol. 2 [続ぞく日本にっぽん精神せいしん史し研究けんきゅう] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1935), reprinted in CW4:273-551.

CW5

• The Practical Philosophy of Early Buddhism [原始げんし仏教ぶっきょうの実践じっせん哲学てつがく] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1927), reprinted in CW5:1-293.
• The Beginnings of Buddhist Philosophy [仏教ぶっきょう哲学てつがくの最初さいしょの展開てんかい] (Kokoro [心しん], June 1955-May 1958), reprinted in CW5:295-568.
• ‘Reply to Kimura Taiken’s Criticisms’ [木村きむら泰賢たいけん氏しの批評ひひょうに答こたえう] (Shisō [思想しそう], April 1927), reprinted in CW5:569-580.

CW6

• Professor Koeber [ケーベル先生せんせい] (Kôbundô [弘文こうぶん堂どう], 1948), reprinted in CW6:1-39.
• Critique of Homer [ホメーロス批判ひはん] (Kaname Shobô [要よう書房しょぼう], 1946), reprinted in CW6:41-255.
• Confucius [孔子こうし] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1938), reprinted in CW6:257-355.
• Forerunners of the Modern Philosophy of History: Vico and Herder [近代きんだい歴史れきし哲学てつがくの先駆せんく者しゃ——ヴィコとヘルダー] (Kôbundô [弘文こうぶん堂どう], 1950), reprinted in CW6:357-421.

On Vico among others.

CW7

• The Cultural Significance of Early Christianity [原始げんしキリスト教きりすときょうの文化ぶんか的てき意義いぎ] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1926), reprinted in CW7:1-150.
• Ethics of Humanity in the Polis [ポリス的てき人間にんげんの倫理りんり学がく] (Hakujitsu Shoin [白日はくじつ書院しょいん], 1948), reprinted in CW7:151-350.

CW8

• Climate: Philosophico-Anthropological Reflections [風土ふうど——人間にんげん学がく的てき考察こうさつ] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1935), reprinted in CW8:1-256.
• Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples of Italy [イタリア古寺ふるでら巡礼じゅんれい] (Kaname Shobô [要よう書房しょぼう], 1950), reprinted in CW8:257-408.

CW9

• Ethics as the Study of Humanity [人間にんげんの学がくとしての倫理りんり学がく] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1934), reprinted in CW9:1-192.
• Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason [カント実践じっせん理性りせい批判ひはん] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1935), reprinted in CW9:193-315.
• Personality and Human Nature [人格じんかくと人類じんるい性せい] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1938), reprinted in CW9:317-479.

CW10

• Ethics, Vol. 1 [倫理りんり学がく(上うえ)] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1937-42), reprinted in CW10:1-659.

CW11

• Ethics, Vol. 2 [倫理りんり学がく(下した)] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1949), reprinted in CW11:1-448.

CW12

• A History of Japanese Ethical Thought, Vol. 1 [日本にっぽん倫理りんり思想しそう史し(上うえ)] (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1952), reprinted in CW12:1-514.

CW13

• A History of Japanese Ethical Thought, Vol. 2 [日本にっぽん倫理りんり思想しそう史し(下した)] (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1952), reprinted in CW13:1-496.

CW14

• Royalist Thought and Its Tradition [尊皇そんのう思想しそうとその伝統でんとう] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1943), reprinted in CW14:1-294.
• The Way of the Imperial Subject in Japan [日本にっぽんの臣しん道どう] (Chikuma Shobô [筑摩書房ちくましょぼう], 1944), reprinted in CW14:295-312.

Published together with The National Character of the United States [アメリカの国民こくみん性せい]. The book was ordered banned from sale by SCAP during the US Occupation.

• The Symbol of National Unification [国民こくみん統合とうごうの象徴しょうちょう] (Keisô Shobô [勁草書房しょぼう], 1948), reprinted in CW14:313-396.

CW15

• Sakoku: Japan’s Tragedy [鎖国さこく——日本にっぽんの悲劇ひげき] (Chikuma Shobô [筑摩書房ちくましょぼう], 1950), reprinted in CW15:1-562.

CW16

• Studies on the History of Japanese Art: Kabuki and Jōruri [日本にっぽん芸術げいじゅつ史し研究けんきゅう——歌舞伎かぶきと操あやつり浄瑠璃じょうるり] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1955), reprinted in CW16:1-716.

CW17

• The Revival of the Idol [偶像ぐうぞう再興さいこう] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1918), reprinted in CW17:1-284.
• Mask and Persona [面めんとペルソナ] (Iwanami Shoten [岩波書店いわなみしょてん], 1937), reprinted in CW17:285-450.
• The National Character of the United States [アメリカの国民こくみん性せい] (Chikuma Shobô [筑摩書房ちくましょぼう], 1944), reprinted in CW17:451-481.

Published together with The Way of the Imperial Subject in Japan [日本にっぽんの臣しん道どう].

CW18

• An Attempt at Autobiography [自叙伝じじょでんの試こころみ] (Chûô Kôronsha [中央公論社ちゅうおうこうろんしゃ], 1961), reprinted in CW18:1-458.

Unfinished work, posthumous publication.

CW19

• A History of Buddhist Ethical Thought [仏教ぶっきょう倫理りんり思想しそう史し]

Previously unpublished work.

CW20-24

• Essays

CW25

• Letters

CW26

• Lecture Notes

CW27

• Notes and Miscellanea

English translations

• 1961: Climate and Culture: A Philosophical Study trans. from Fūdo (風土ふうど) by Geoffrey Bownas (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press)
• 1969: Japanese Ethical Thought in the Noh Plays of the Muromachi Period trans. from chapter 4 of Nihon Rinri Shisōshi (日本にっぽん倫理りんり思想しそう史し) by David A. Dilworth (Monumenta Nipponica 24:4, 467-498) [1]
• 1971: The Significance of Ethics As the Study of Man trans. from the introduction to Rinrigaku (倫理りんり学がく) vol. 1 by David A. Dilworth (Monumenta Nipponica 26:3/4, 395-413) [2]
• 1996: Watsuji Tetsurō's Rinrigaku: Ethics in Japan trans. from the first half of Rinrigaku (倫理りんり学がく) vol. 1 by Seisaku Yamamoto & Robert Carter (Albany: State University of New York Press)
• 1998: Various essays in Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy by David Dilworth and Valdo Viglielmo with Agustin Jacinto Zavala.
• 2009: Mask and Persona trans. from Men to Perusona (面めんとペルソナ) by Carl M. Johnson [3]
• 2009: The Psychology of Idol Worship trans. from Gūzō Sūhai no Shinri (偶像ぐうぞう崇拝すうはいの心理しんり) by Carl M. Johnson [4]
• 2011: Purifying Zen: Watsuji Tetsurō's Shamon Dōgen trans. from Shamon Dōgen (沙門しゃもん道元どうげん) by Steve Bein (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press) [5]
• 2011: Pilgrimages to the Ancient Temples in Nara trans. from Koji Junrei (古寺ふるでら巡礼じゅんれい) by Hiroshi Nara (Portland, ME: MerwinAsia) (2012)[6]
• 2021: “Professor Koeber” trans. K.M.J. Shuttleworth and Sayaka Shuttleworth. Journal of East Asian Philosophy 1: 75–99 (2021).[7]
• 2021: “Middle School” from Attempt at an Autobiography trans. K.M.J. Shuttleworth and Sayaka Shuttleworth. European Journal of Japanese Philosophy 6: 267–322 (2021).[8]
• 2021: “America’s National Character” trans. K.M.J. Shuttleworth and Sayaka Shuttleworth. Philosophy East and West 71 (4):1005-1028 (2021)[9]
• 2023: "A Consideration of National Character' trans. K.M.J. Shuttleworth. Journal East Asian Philosophy (2023).[10]

See also

• Kuki Shūzō

References

• Maraldo, John C. (2001). "Watsuji" in A Companion to the Philosophers (Robert L. Arrington, editor). Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22967-1
• Marra, Michael F. (2002). Japanese hermeneutics: Current Debates on Aesthetics and Interpretation. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 9780824824570; OCLC 237578040
• Mayeda, Graham. Japanese Philosophers on Society and Culture: Nishida Kitarō, Watsuji Tetsurō, and Kuki Shūzō. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2020. ISBN 978-1-4985-7208-8
• ———. (2006). Time, Space and Ethics in the Philosophy of Watsuji Tetsurō, Kuki Shūzō, and Martin Heidegger. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97673-1 (alk. paper).
• Hans Peter Liederbach (2001): Martin Heidegger im Denken Watsuji Tetsuros, München: Iudicium, ISBN 3-89129-363-1

External links

• Carter, Robert. "Watsuji Tetsurô". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.