Philosophical Thinking and Japanese Traditions

ENOMOTO Fumio(Graduate School of Letters )

Cource Objective
   The purpose of these lectures is to make clear various aspects of Japanese thoughts from the past to the present. The course will start from several origins of the ideas in Japan, then focusing on the thoughts of modern philosophers, some of which have been involved in disputes about their political effects and implications. The concluding hours will be spent on contemporary thinking in people�fs life and the philosophical scene.

Learning Goals
   By attending this class, students are expected to understand Japan from the viewpoint of philosophical aspects with their origins and present states.

Requirement / Prerequisite
  

Class Plan
  

	Theme	Content (Instructor)
Week 1	Orientation	(ENOMOTO Fumio)
Week 2	The Sense of Transience in Ancient Japan and India	(DOYAMA Eijiro)
Week 3	Indian origin of Japanese religious traditions	(ENOMOTO Fumio)
Week 4	Indian culture and Japanese traditions
Week 5	Philosophy of Bushido	(SUTO Norihide)
Week 6	Intellectual history of the Kaitokudo (Merchant Academy in Osaka)	(YUASA Kunihiro)
Week 7	The thought of MIURA BAIEN	(SHIN Hyen)
Week 8	On death and dying in contemporary society of Japan	(HAMAUZU Shinji)
Week 9	On �gseken�h in Japanese	(HORIE Tsuyoshi)
Week 10	Scientific Thought in Modern Japan	(NAKAMURA Masaki)
Week 11	Philosophy of �gTea�h
Week 12	Who is Kojin Karatani?	(FUNABA Yasuyuki)
Week 13	Dialogue and Philosophy in Japanese School Education	(HOMMA Naoki)
Week 14	Theory of Subjectivity and Ego after WWII in Japan	(IRIE Yukio)
Week 15	General overview and discussion	(IRIE Yukio)

Independent Study Outside of Class
   none

Textbooks
   none particular

Reference
   Visions of Virtue in Tokugawa Japan: The Kaitokudo Merchant Academy of Osaka, Tetsuo Najita (1998/3)

Grading Policy

• Class participation 50%
• Term paper to be submitted at the end of the course 50%
  (Term paper should be connected to two of the 13 themes of the course.)