A Cross Section of the History of Catholic Leprosy Relief : Iwashita Soichi's Outlook on Patients

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  • カトリック救癩史の一断面 : 岩下壮一における患者観の形成の視点から
  • カトリック キュウライシ ノ イチ ダンメン イワシタ ソウイチ ニ オケル カンジャカン ノ ケイセイ ノ シテン カラ

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Abstract

Iwashita Soichi (1889-1940) was a Catholic thinker and, for about 10 years from 1930 to 1940, was engaged in a leprosy relief service as the sixth director (the first for a Japanese) of Koyama Fukusei Hospital. Iwashita investigated desirable relations between society and human life in the subcommunity of the leprosarium, which imitated a nation state. This paper examines the structure of the leprosy patients-nation state relations in the history of the Catholic leprosy relief from the viewpoint of Iwashita's outlook on patients. Iwashita attempted to inspect real society from the perspective of medieval philosophy as learned from his teacher von Hugel, by reflecting on the situation of the society of 1930's as it headed toward totalitarianism. Iwashita built a philosophy of leprosy patients-nation state relations from the viewpoint of the subject-formation of the patients, in order to regenerate their identity/subjects which was lost because they were leprosy patients. It was supported on the outlook of patients who were able to form an identity as a person with the ethical social relations of a nation state, that is, for individuals who established an inward authority. Therefore it may be said that the conventional evaluation of Iwashita, which concludes that he took part in a leprosy relief policy out of a nationalistic concern, is not proper when Iwashita is reevaluated from such a perspective.

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