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Being a Person: the Ethics of Watsuji Tetsurō and Immanuel Kant

Eguchi, Sumiko
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245306862

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Comparative Studies.
This thesis comparatively analyzes the ethical theories of Watsuji Tetsurō (1889-1960) and of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Central to this comparison are their respective philosophical anthropologies. One of Japan’s most prominent modern philosophers and ethicists, Watsuji’s philosophy is often analyzed in light of that of his contemporary, Martin Heidegger (1889-1976). Watsuji studied in Germany in the late 1920s and used rhetorical devices such as etymological discussions of key terms reminiscent of Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit. Yet, from the beginning, Watsuji was a critic of Heidegger’s philosophical anthropology and a careful reading of Watsuji shows conclusively that Kant was the most dominant Western influence in the formation of Watsuji’s ethical theory. Watsuji wrote two important works focused on Kant: one a detailed study of the Critique of Practical Reason and the other on Kant’s view of personhood. He wrote those works at about the same time as he was writing his own foundational works in ethics, Ningen no gaku to shite no rinirigaku and Rinrigaku. In his books on Kant, Watsuji analyzes variants of the categorical imperative, emphasizing the duality in the Kantian person as simultaneously both a means and an end. According to Watsuji, this duality is the ground on which Kant establishes his ethics. Watsuji’s own ethical theory has a very similar ground. Through a detailed analysis of their fundamental understanding of the study of human existence as the study of ethics, the thesis illustrates how Watsuji understood his own view of human existence to resonate with Kant’s, especially in their common insistence on the twofold structure of the individual vs. the social. This evidence shows that the intent of Watsuji’s ethical theory was not to develop a theory of “Japanese ethics,” but rather, a universal theory of ethics in line with Kant’s own aspirations.
Thomas P. Kasulis (Advisor)
Philip Armstrong (Committee Member)
Eugene Holland (Committee Member)
Cultural Anthropology; Philosophy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Eguchi, S. (2009). Being a Person: the Ethics of Watsuji Tetsurō and Immanuel Kant [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245306862

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Eguchi, Sumiko. Being a Person: the Ethics of Watsuji Tetsurō and Immanuel Kant. 2009. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245306862.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Eguchi, Sumiko. "Being a Person: the Ethics of Watsuji Tetsurō and Immanuel Kant." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1245306862

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.