2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Study on the Intellectual Development of Maruyama Masao
| Project/Area Number |
14520101
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Politics
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| Research Institution | Kyusyu Institute of Technology(K.I.T.) |
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Principal Investigator |
HONDA Itsuo K.I.T., Dpt.of Tech., Professor, 工学部, 教授 (30183940)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2004
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| Keywords | Maruyama Masao / Nanbara Shigeru / Liberalism / Fukuzawa Yukichi / Christianity / Tolerance |
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| Research Abstract |
Maruyama Masao's experience in his youth, from the late 1930s to 1945, included persecution by the state authority for him and for his contemporary liberal intellectuals. This experience revealed, he believed, first, that Japanese authority didn't hesitate to effect individuals' mind. Second, that there was a gap between Western ideologies and the Japanese (sub) consciousness.
Maruyama tried to explore and overcome these problems. In so doing, he was especially inspired by his adviser, a devout Christian, Nanbara Shigeru. In spite of his harsh criticisms of liberalism and Marxism, Nanbara confronted the Japanese reactionaries of the time, and still exhibited tolerance toward those who held causes different from his.
Maruyama tried to expose hidden, arcaic Japanese thought patterns which led to superficial acceptance of Western ideas. Also, he endeavored to de-mystify the Japanese concepts of the state and of the emperor. This included some criticisms of Nanbara as well as Maruyama himself. However, Maruyama's later research of traditions and orthodoxies or legitimacies implied that his stance came closer to Nanbara's, who believed in objective existence of the universal and of the transcendental : such as reason, individual dignity, conscience, or God. Maruyama observed that these were shared by many Western liberals, Marxists, humanitarians or Christians. He referred to them as the inner unseeable, authority which ultimately supported the intellectuals' integrity.
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Research Products
(4 results)
