Nothingness in the Heart of Empire

Harumi Osaki

Description

In the field of philosophy, the common view of philosophy as an essentially Western discipline persists even today, while non-Western philosophy tends to be undervalued and not investigated seriously. In the field of Japanese studies, in turn, research on Japanese philosophy tends to be reduced to a matter of projecting existing stereotypes of alleged Japanese cultural uniqueness through the reading of texts. In Nothingness in the Heart of Empire, Harumi Osaki resists both these tendencies. She closely interprets the wartime discourses of the Kyoto School, a group of modern Japanese philosophers who drew upon East Asian traditions as well as Western philosophy. Her book lucidly delves into the non-Western forms of rationality articulated in such discourses, and reveals the problems inherent in them as the result of these philosophers' engagements in Japan's wartime situation, without cloaking these problems under the pretense of "Japanese cultural uniqueness." In addition, in a manner reminiscent of the controversy surrounding Martin Heidegger's involvement with Nazi Germany, the book elucidates the political implications of the morality upheld by the Kyoto School and its underlying metaphysics. As such, this book urges dialogue beyond the divide between Western and non-Western philosophies, and beyond the separation between "lofty" philosophy and "common" politics.
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction

Part I. "Overcoming Modernity" and "The Philosophy of World History"

1. Nishitani Keiji and the Bungakukai Symposium "Overcoming Modernity"

2. The Chūōkōron Symposia Concerning the Philosophy of World History

3. The Unity between the Subject and the Substratum of the State: The First Characteristic of Japanese National Subjectivity

4. The Interpenetration between the National and the International: The Second Characteristic of Japanese National Subjectivity

5. The Reciprocal Determination between the Virtual and the Actual: The Third Characteristic of Japanese National Subjectivity

6. The Outcomes of the Two Projects at Stake in Japanese National Subjectivity

Part II. A Political Dimension of Nishida Kitarō's Philosophy of Nothingness

7. Questions Concerning Nishida and Japanese Subjectivity

8. Nishida's Political Thoughts Concerning Japanese National Subjectivity

9. The Significance and Problems of Nishida's Arguments about Kokutai

10. Nishida's Criticism of Hegel with an Eye to Overcoming Western Modernity

11. Examining Nishida's Philosophical Project of Overcoming Western Modernity

12. Reconsidering the Issues of Kokutai and Overcoming Modernity

Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Japan
• History of Asia
• Philosophy

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 28 février 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438473116
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

Nothingness in the Heart of Empire
Nothingness in the Heart of Empire
The Moral and Political Philosophy of the Kyoto School in Imperial Japan
HARUMI OSAKI
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2019 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Osaki, Harumi, author.
Title: Nothingness in the heart of empire : the moral and political philosophy of the Kyoto School in imperial Japan / Harumi Osaki.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, [2019] | “This book was written based on [the author’s] doctoral dissertation at McGill University”—Acknowledgements. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018015532 | ISBN 9781438473093 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438473116 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy, Japanese—20th century. | Nothing (Philosophy)
Classification: LCC B5241 .O825 2019 | DDC 181/.12—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018015532
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
A BBREVIATIONS
P REFACE
I NTRODUCTION
Part 1 “Overcoming Modernity” and “The Philosophy of World History”
C HAPTER 1 Nishitani Keiji and the Bungakukai Symposium “Overcoming Modernity”
C HAPTER 2 The Chūōkōron Symposia Concerning the Philosophy of World History
C HAPTER 3 The Unity between the Subject and the Substratum of the State: The First Characteristic of Japanese National Subjectivity
C HAPTER 4 The Interpenetration between the National and the International: The Second Characteristic of Japanese National Subjectivity
C HAPTER 5 The Reciprocal Determination between the Virtual and the Actual: The Third Characteristic of Japanese National Subjectivity
C HAPTER 6 The Outcomes of the Two Projects at Stake in Japanese National Subjectivity
Part 2 A Political Dimension of Nishida Kitarō’s Philosophy of Nothingness
C HAPTER 7 Questions Concerning Nishida and Japanese Subjectivity
C HAPTER 8 Nishida’s Political Thoughts Concerning Japanese National Subjectivity
C HAPTER 9 The Significance and Problems of Nishida’s Arguments about Kokutai
C HAPTER 10 Nishida’s Criticism of Hegel with an Eye to Overcoming Western Modernity
C HAPTER 11 Examining Nishida’s Philosophical Project of Overcoming Western Modernity
C HAPTER 12 Reconsidering the Issues of Kokutai and Overcoming Modernity
C ONCLUSION
N OTES
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
Acknowledgments
This book was written based on my doctoral dissertation at McGill University. Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Thomas Lamarre, for overseeing my PhD studies and research, and for his advice, support, and encouragement throughout the entire dissertation process and the preparation of the manuscript for this book.
Beyond my supervisor, a number of people gave me valuable advice, suggestions, comments, and criticisms. I would like to thank my comprehensive examination committee members, Adrienne Hurley and Brian Massumi; the internal examiner, Gavin Walker; and the external examiner, Naoki Sakai. My sincere thanks also go to the reviewers of my book manuscript selected by the State University of New York Press, Richard F. Calichman and Kimoto Takeshi. Without their thoughtful comments and useful suggestions, this book would not have taken form. While incorporating all of these people’s advice and responding to each criticism was beyond the scope of this book and my capacity, I will keep their excellent input in mind as tasks to address in future research.
During the time I was writing the manuscript for this book, I have benefitted from the invaluable support, encouragement, and inspiration from many people. I would like to express my gratitude to Nadine Powell, Elyse Amend, Christine Lamarre, Danielle Barkley, Yumiko Kanao, Timothy Forster, Klaus Hammering, Chang Zhang, dear members of CPNM, and Michel Brousseau.
Portions of chapters 10 and 11 in part 2 of this book were previously published in the European Journal of Japanese Philosophy , vol. 2 (Oct. 2017) under the title, “The Dialectic of Hegel and Nishida: How to Deal with Modernity.” I thank the journal editors for their generous permission to use the content of the essay in this book. I am also grateful to the editors of SUNY Press, Christopher Ahn, Chelsea Miller, Eileen Nizer, Anne Valentine, and Aimee Harrison for all of their support and help in completing this book.
Lastly, I wish to thank my parents without whom it would have been impossible to continue my scholarly pursuits.
Abbreviations OM Overcoming Modernity: Cultural Identity in Wartime Japan . Edited and Translated by Richard F. Calichman. Columbia University Press. 2008. SR Sekaishi no riron . Edited by Mori Tetsurō, Kyoto tetsugaku sensho XX. Tōeisha, 2000. NKC Nishitani Keiji chosakushū , 26 vols. Sōbunsha, 1986–1995. NKZ Nishida Kitarō zenshū , 19 vols. 1947–1953. Iwanami Shoten, 1978–1980. SN “ Sekaishiteki tachiba to nihon ,” Kōsaka Masaaki et al., Chūōkōron 57 (1) Jan. 1942: 150–92. TRR “ Tōa kyōeiken no rinrisei to rekishisei ,” Kōsaka Masaaki et al., Chūōkōron 57 (4) Apr. 1942: 120–61. ST “ Sōryokusen no tetsugaku ,” Kōsaka Masaaki et al., Chūōkōron 58 (1) Jan. 1943: 54–112. HW Werke , in 20 Bänden, Georg W. F. Hegel. Edited by Eva Moldenhauer and Karl M. Michel, Suhrkamp, 1969–1971.
Preface
This book is a critical examination of the Kyoto School philosophers’ prewar and wartime political discourses, with specific reference to the philosophical and metaphysical theories that worked to reinforce them. Prior critical works on the Kyoto School have tended to focus on the philosophers’ alignment with Japan’s war effort. However, as such critiques do not address the philosophy in depth, they have tended to leave open the possibility that the problem lies not in the Kyoto School thinkers’ philosophical endeavors, but in their historical circumstances. By the same token, even when critiques seem to hit the mark, advocates of the Kyoto School have tended to blame the critics for not understanding the philosophy, and have ignored these assessments peremptorily. With a goal of moving the dialogue beyond this rupture, this book argues that the Kyoto School’s moral and political philosophy tends to align itself with nationalist and imperial formations, conceptually and logically. By undertaking a philosophical investigation of the problems found in the Kyoto School thinkers’ political discourses, this book shows that there is no strict separation between “lofty” philosophy and “vulgar” politics. Instead, it argues that seemingly genuine philosophy can be a source of political problems.
In this examination, despite the Kyoto School philosophers’ frequent emphasis on the uniqueness of Japan, the East, or the Orient, I do not adopt such particularism. Rather, I elucidate how the particularistic assumptions of these philosophers constitute an essential part of the problems their political discourses gave rise to. There is a persistent tendency for Western thinkers to read into the texts of non-Western philosophers something particular to their own cultural tradition. Although I do not completely disagree with such an approach, the arbitrary insertion of idealized images of “Japan,” “the East,” or “the Orient” often obscures what is written in these texts and covers up the difficulties that exist there. Reading philosophers’ texts in this way makes an intellectual dialogue with them almost impossible. For, when people idealize others, they treat them simply as the representatives of cultural stereotypes and refuse to face them as status-equal interlocutors. Moving against such a tendency, I read the Kyoto School philosophers’ discourses without reducing their meanings to cultural particularities, and present the problems in these discourses in a way sharable with anybody, in principle, regardless of whether they are of the West or the East. In doing so, I hope to pave the way for future dialogues and exchanges that can traverse such dichotomous divisions.
The founder of the Kyoto School, Nishida Kitarō, once dreamed of a philosophy in which the particularity of the national culture of his own country could contribute to the universality of humanity. However, he seemed to be swayed by the ambition of identifying this particularity with true universality. His followers, even in the present, do not seem to be free from a similar desire to celebrate “Japaneseness” over and above the particularities of other cultures. Still, in his philosophy, there is a line of thought that gestures toward another universality that can enable all such particularities to coexist and interact, without being superior or inferior to one another. Although Nishida conceived place or nothingness to be such a universality, the sense of cultural superiority he retained in the name of the dignity of particularity prevented him from fully developing the potential of this line of thought. Thus, to locate a point from which we can start this pursuit differently than Nishida did—that is, to open a “place” where dialogues and exchanges of particularities actually can occur—is also a key objective of this book.
Introduction