The development of the philosophical concept of Nature in Japan and Europe - a comparative perspective focusing on the Tokugawa period

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13320
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Philosophy/Ethics
• Research Institution: Kyoto University (2019); Kanda University of International Studies (2017-2018)
• Principal Investigator: Pasca Roman 京都大学, 文学研究科, 助教 (90758583)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: nature / shizen / jinen / self / self-with-others / homo naturalis

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Synthesized here are some of the most important findings of my research. 1) Re-framing Shoeki’s philosophy: if we do consider him an original thinker, he is by no means “unique”, or an “anomaly”, as his ideas are well at home within the tradition of East Asian philosophy. 2) Unpacking the concept of "shizen": a philosopher who is preoccupied with the substantiality of the human body as well, not only with the mechanisms of shizen or with the human mind. 3) The need to go beyond "shizen": for Shoeki, "shizen" is inextricably linked to "hito" and vice versa, so in fact any consideration of nature necessarily has to be a consideration of ourselves as human beings. This is the reason why I argue that Shoeki is also a philosopher preoccupied with the topic of the self. 4) Recent trends for philosophy of nature: the concern for the environment; and the idea that “philosophy” should not be understood in a narrow sense, but broadly as the practice of thinking about the world.

Free Research Field

Philosophy of nature

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

「自然」と「男女（ひと）」との関係を、昌益哲学の再読から得た知見を駆使して再構築することによって、現在の自然哲学を始め、環境倫理学、環境危機、男女平等など、現代社会が直面している様々な問題に向き合う課程で新鮮な観点や新しいアプローチが得られる。さらに、昌益哲学を２１世紀のマインドで再評価することで、そこに「世界哲学」としての「日本思想」の可能性が潜んでいることが明らかになった。