In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1... more In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1961d) and Fūdo (Watsuji, 1961b), and Heidegger's Being and Time (Heidegger, 2010) seems to be well, if not exhaustively explored. Virtually every contribution to the subject refers in one or another way to the famous quote at the very outset of Fūdo, where Watsuji confesses his indebtedness to Heidegger's masterpiece. Since Tosaka Jun's criticism of Watsuji's etymological hermeneutics (cf. Tosaka, 1965, p. 299-308), which, as he keenly observed, was obviously inspired by Heidegger's style of crafting and remodeling philosophical concepts, a lot of work has been done to make Watsuji's philosophical writings comprehensible via a reading of the early Heidegger. Sakabe Megumi's Watsuji Tetsurō (Sakabe, 1986), Yuasa Yasuo's Watsuji Tetsurō. Kindai Nihon tetsugaku no unmei (Yuasa, 1995), and, most explicitly, Mine Hideki's Heideggā to Nihon no tetsugaku (Mine, 2004), are examples that readily come to mind, as do the studies of Augustin Berque, to whom I will come back in a minute. (The author of this review had greatly benefitted from these pioneering studies when he set out to make sense of Watsuji's ethical thought almost two decades ago; cf. Liederbach, 2001.) By virtue of this interpretive approach, it was possible to reveal the one-sidedness of Watsuji's dialectics, the politically dangerous communitarianism inherent to his conception of human being as ningen, and the problematic structure of his notion of authenticity (honraisei). Despite the sometimes harsh criticism, the above mentioned authors did not fail to notice the possibilities in Watsuji's thought, which, albeit underdeveloped by Watsuji himself, pointed at inconsistencies in Being and Time and, thus, could be used for going beyond the framework for deconstructing Western metaphysics, set up by the early Heidegger. It is, therefore, no accident that recent philosophical Watsuji scholarship has shifted its main focus from a hermeneutics of Watsuji's appropriation of Being and Time to explorations of the possible applicabilities of his thought to poststructural and deconstructivist veins of research that had emerged in the aftermath of the later Heidegger's devastating blow to the metaphysical tradition. (In this regard, the studies by Erin McCarthy, 2010 and Anton Sevilla, 2017 are instructive.) Given this background, one might not necessarily expect fundamentally new insights from a study that already addresses the Watsuji-Heidegger relationship in its very title. And yet, David Johnson succeeds in opening a fresh perspective on Watsuji by creatively reinterpreting his reading of Being and Time. Johnson's book is based on meticulous research. The relevant literature on Watsuji is well recapitulated, as is the phenomenological and hermeneutical scholarship Johnson extensively draws from. Johnson even takes the pains of delving into philological questions regarding certain key notions of Watsuji's thought. (Needless to say, he can read Watsuji in Japanese.) While, on first sight, this might give rise to the impression of pedantry, on further inspection it turns out to provide the book with a sound methodological and conceptual foundation. This is particularly true of the main concept of Johnson's study, that is fūdo; the term is left untranslated throughout the book. The achievements of Augustin Berque notwithstanding, Watsuji's book on Fūdo (rendered as Climate and Culture, Milieux or Wind und Erde in translations into European languages) has not been at the center of philosophical Watsuji scholarship so far. This is not surprising, given CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, Department of Philosophyhttps://ecommons.udayton.ed... more Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, Department of Philosophyhttps://ecommons.udayton.edu/svc_milestone/1017/thumbnail.jp
In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1... more In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1961d) and Fūdo (Watsuji, 1961b), and Heidegger’s Being and Time (Heidegger, 2010) seems to be well, ...
Kennedy Union 312 This workshop is for faculty from any discipline who want to bring the Practica... more Kennedy Union 312 This workshop is for faculty from any discipline who want to bring the Practical Wisdom SLO into their classes. The goal is to leave the session with a practical activity or lesson plan specific to your field and your students
In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1... more In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1961d) and Fūdo (Watsuji, 1961b), and Heidegger's Being and Time (Heidegger, 2010) seems to be well, if not exhaustively explored. Virtually every contribution to the subject refers in one or another way to the famous quote at the very outset of Fūdo, where Watsuji confesses his indebtedness to Heidegger's masterpiece. Since Tosaka Jun's criticism of Watsuji's etymological hermeneutics (cf. Tosaka, 1965, p. 299-308), which, as he keenly observed, was obviously inspired by Heidegger's style of crafting and remodeling philosophical concepts, a lot of work has been done to make Watsuji's philosophical writings comprehensible via a reading of the early Heidegger. Sakabe Megumi's Watsuji Tetsurō (Sakabe, 1986), Yuasa Yasuo's Watsuji Tetsurō. Kindai Nihon tetsugaku no unmei (Yuasa, 1995), and, most explicitly, Mine Hideki's Heideggā to Nihon no tetsugaku (Mine, 2004), are examples that readily come to mind, as do the studies of Augustin Berque, to whom I will come back in a minute. (The author of this review had greatly benefitted from these pioneering studies when he set out to make sense of Watsuji's ethical thought almost two decades ago; cf. Liederbach, 2001.) By virtue of this interpretive approach, it was possible to reveal the one-sidedness of Watsuji's dialectics, the politically dangerous communitarianism inherent to his conception of human being as ningen, and the problematic structure of his notion of authenticity (honraisei). Despite the sometimes harsh criticism, the above mentioned authors did not fail to notice the possibilities in Watsuji's thought, which, albeit underdeveloped by Watsuji himself, pointed at inconsistencies in Being and Time and, thus, could be used for going beyond the framework for deconstructing Western metaphysics, set up by the early Heidegger. It is, therefore, no accident that recent philosophical Watsuji scholarship has shifted its main focus from a hermeneutics of Watsuji's appropriation of Being and Time to explorations of the possible applicabilities of his thought to poststructural and deconstructivist veins of research that had emerged in the aftermath of the later Heidegger's devastating blow to the metaphysical tradition. (In this regard, the studies by Erin McCarthy, 2010 and Anton Sevilla, 2017 are instructive.) Given this background, one might not necessarily expect fundamentally new insights from a study that already addresses the Watsuji-Heidegger relationship in its very title. And yet, David Johnson succeeds in opening a fresh perspective on Watsuji by creatively reinterpreting his reading of Being and Time. Johnson's book is based on meticulous research. The relevant literature on Watsuji is well recapitulated, as is the phenomenological and hermeneutical scholarship Johnson extensively draws from. Johnson even takes the pains of delving into philological questions regarding certain key notions of Watsuji's thought. (Needless to say, he can read Watsuji in Japanese.) While, on first sight, this might give rise to the impression of pedantry, on further inspection it turns out to provide the book with a sound methodological and conceptual foundation. This is particularly true of the main concept of Johnson's study, that is fūdo; the term is left untranslated throughout the book. The achievements of Augustin Berque notwithstanding, Watsuji's book on Fūdo (rendered as Climate and Culture, Milieux or Wind und Erde in translations into European languages) has not been at the center of philosophical Watsuji scholarship so far. This is not surprising, given CONTEMPORARY JAPAN
Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, Department of Philosophyhttps://ecommons.udayton.ed... more Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, Department of Philosophyhttps://ecommons.udayton.edu/svc_milestone/1017/thumbnail.jp
In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1... more In philosophical Watsuji scholarship, the intricate relation between Rinrigaku (Watsuji, 1961c, 1961d) and Fūdo (Watsuji, 1961b), and Heidegger’s Being and Time (Heidegger, 2010) seems to be well, ...
Kennedy Union 312 This workshop is for faculty from any discipline who want to bring the Practica... more Kennedy Union 312 This workshop is for faculty from any discipline who want to bring the Practical Wisdom SLO into their classes. The goal is to leave the session with a practical activity or lesson plan specific to your field and your students
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