Japanese Philosophy

(2 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this class we will think about the problem of what it means to do philosophy in Japan. ...we need to think about the difference between "Japanese philosophy," "philosophy in Japan," and "thought". The focus of the seminar will be Japanese philosophy in the 20th century, especially the Kyoto-school. TK - Tokyo, Japan There are two notable features in this course. Firstly, I shall attempt to use the images of ideal human beings taken both from western culture and Japanese culture. I do not mean to, however, make a contrast between two cultures in a hackneyed manner, but rather intend to show that some similarities and differences of the images transcend the difference of cultural background. In doing so, I expect the participants to ask yourself of what image of ideal human beings you have; in short, the aim of this course is to know yourself which has been a deep motive for pursuing philosophy in various cultures. We have various kinds of the images of ideal human beings. Thinking of those images often leads us to answer the questions such as How ought we to live?, What is the best way of living for us?, What ought we to pursue in our lives? and so on. In this course, I shall examine those questions from a philosophical point of view by means of using various philosophical methods.