The Reception of Western Philosophy in Japan in Its Early Stages: The Transcription and Translation of Unpublished Notes of Lectures by Ernest Fenollosa at Tokyo University

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370096
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of thought
• Research Institution: Otani University
• Principal Investigator: MURAYAMA Yasushi 大谷大学, 文学部, 教授 (70310646)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): WATANABE Hiromasa 大谷大学, 文学部, 教授 (30247770) ; NISHIO Koji 大谷大学, 文学部, 非常勤講師 (20510225) ; TAKEHANA Yosuke 大谷大学, 文学部, 非常勤講師 (60549533) ; PARK Ilgong 大谷大学, 文学部, 教授 (50238242) ; FUJITA Masakatsu 京都大学, 学内共同利用施設等, 教授 (90165390) ; CONWAY Michael 大谷大学, 文学部, 講師 (70549526) ; TAKENAKA Shotaro 大谷大学, 文学部, 非常勤講師 (00643090)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: フェノロサ / 清沢満之 / 高嶺三吉 / 西洋哲学 / 近代日本思想 / 仏教 / 外国人教師 / 東京大学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In 1878, Tokyo University hired Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908) as its first non-Japanese instructor in philosophy. Although Fenollosa is known for his evaluation of Japanese art, at Tokyo University he taught on the subjects of philosophy and economics. From the reminiscences of his students, it is clear that his lectures greatly influenced many Meiji-period Japanese thinkers, yet the vast majority of the notes from Fenollosa’s lectures on philosophy remain unpublished. This research project, by transcribing and translating portions of the notes of Fenollosa’s lectures taken by Takamine Sankichi 高嶺三吉 (1861?-1887) and Kiyozawa Manshi 清沢満之 (1863-1903) while they were students at Tokyo University, made the content of those lecture available publically and by doing so clarified one aspect of the process of the reception of Western philosophy in Japan in its earliest stages.

Free Research Field

哲学