Watsuji Tetsuro was a Japanese philosopher, born in 1889 and died in 1960, who taught at Kyoto Imperial University and Tokyo Imperial University and is counted among the philosophers associated with the Kyoto School, the influential twentieth century Japanese movement that put Western philosophy into dialogue with Buddhist and East Asian thought. He is best known for developing an ethics grounded in the idea of ningen, a Japanese term he treated as meaning both the individual person and the person's inescapable relatedness to others, arguing against Western individualist ethics that selfhood and moral life are constituted fundamentally through betweenness, or aidagara, the relations that bind people together in community. Watsuji's other major and widely read contribution is his theory of fudo, or climate and milieu, set out in his book of that name, which argues that a people's characteristic ways of thinking and living are shaped by their natural and geographic environment, from monsoon Asia to desert and pastoral landscapes.
Facts
Defining MomentBecame a lecturer at Kyoto Imperial University in March 1925, alongside the Kyoto School philosophers, though not considered a member of the School himself. 1 Notable PublicationClimate: Philosophico-Anthropological Reflections (Fudo, 1935) 1 Office HeldChair in ethics, Tokyo Imperial University (1934-1949) 1 BirthplaceHimeji, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan 1 TraditionJapanese moral philosophy (ethics) 1 Connections
In Branch
Source Watsuji Tetsuro (Wikipedia)
Source Watsuji Tetsuro (Wikipedia)
In Tradition
Source Watsuji Tetsuro (Wikipedia)
Source Watsuji Tetsuro (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
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Source Watsuji Tetsuro (Wikipedia)Lead sentence 1Quote, Lead sentence 1
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889 – December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
Sources
1. Watsuji Tetsuro (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead sentence, birth year
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889, December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
lead sentence, death date
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889, December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
lead sentence, death year
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889, December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
Early life section, opening sentence
Watsuji was born in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture to a physician.
lead sentence, occupation description
was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
Work section, main works sentence
his 1935 Climate. The last of these develops his most distinctive thought.
Career section, Tokyo Imperial University sentence
He then moved to the Tokyo Imperial University in July 1934 and held the chair in ethics until his retirement in March 1949.
Career section, Kyoto Imperial University appointment sentence
In March 1925, Watsuji became a lecturer at Kyoto Imperial University, joining the other leading philosophers of the time, Nishida Kitarō, Tanabe Hajime and Nishitani Keiji.
lead sentence, birth date
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889, December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
In Branch: Aesthetics, Infobox: main_interests
Aesthetics, ethics, culture, religion
In Branch: Ethics, Infobox: main_interests
Aesthetics, ethics, culture, religion
In Tradition: Continental Philosophy, Infobox: school_tradition
Continental Kyoto School
In Tradition: Kyoto School, Infobox: school_tradition
Continental Kyoto School
In Group: Continental And Phenomenological Ethics, Lead
Tetsurō Watsuji (和辻 哲郎, Watsuji Tetsurō; March 1, 1889, December 26, 1960) was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher.
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