Trust and Individuality in Watsuji’s Ethics

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  • 和辻倫理学における信頼と個性
  • 和辻倫理学における信頼と個性--随筆「マチスの刺激」を中心に
  • ワツジ リンリガク ニ オケル シンライ ト コセイ ズイヒツ マチス ノ シゲキ オ チュウシン ニ
  • 随筆「マチスの刺激」を中心に
  • On His Essay “The Inspiration of Matisse”

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Abstract

In the system of Watsuji’s Ethics, totality is given priority over individuality. Yet individuality is highly valued in his essays on fine arts and culture. Although Kyubun TANAKA and Sumihiko KUMANO have each tried to revive Watsuji’s Ethics as a theory of cultural pluralism, they ended up criticizing Watsuji. After discussing these two contemporary interpretations, I attempt in this article to clarify Watsuji’s project for the construction of a new ethics after the end of the war. I base my interpretation on one of Watsuji’s post-war essays, “The Inspiration of Matisse.” Matisse’s novel style of painting, which was restricted neither by Western nor by Japanese traditions, appeared to Watsuji as an ideal example of a style that could serve as an inspiration to the Japanese. But the Japanese of those days lacked the spirit of infinite inquiry into another’s otherness. I argue that if “trust,” one of key concepts of Watsuji’s Ethics, is reinterpreted as such a spirit of infinite inquiry, this could provide a basis from which to construct a new theory of cultural pluralism.

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