Diverse views on civil society: An approach to intellectual history

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12220
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01040:History of thought-related
• Research Institution: Doshisha University
• Principal Investigator: KOJIMA Hidenobu 同志社大学, 商学部, 准教授 (10735294)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: バーク / スミス / М・ポランニー / 文明社会 / 自生的秩序

Outline of Final Research Achievements

During this research, I shed light on the ideas of civilized society held by 18th century politico-economic thinkers such as Adam Smith and Edmund Burke, thereby revealing and describing, in terms of the history of ideas, another form of the civilization process differing from the common view of “civilization” from feudal to modern society through the French Revolution. I conducted research at the British Library, gave reports at academic conferences, and so forth, in order to achieve this. I refined my research, and was able to complete several papers as the results of my studies. I was also able to make progress in my project to translate M. Polanyi’s final work, Meaning, which presents the influences of the above findings in the 20th century. I hope to deliver some of the fruits of my studies back to society through publication of this translation.

Free Research Field

思想史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

封建社会からフランス革命を経て近代社会へという史的構図はいまだに通念として義務教育等で教えられているが、学術的には、市民革命を経ることなく近代化することに成功したイギリスなど、その構図に収まりきらない事態が存在しており、それが重要な問題となっていた。イギリス下院議員エドマンド・バークは、封建的なるものと近代的・商業的なるものとを融和的に捉えており、彼の思考様式を解明することは、まさしく封建社会と革命的断絶を経ることなく近代化することに成功したイギリス社会を把捉し、理解する上でも極めて重大な意義を有するものであろう。本研究の学術的社会的意義はそこにあると言ってよい。