The Theory of Habit in Yujiro Motora: Considering the Subject in Experience and Selection in Ethics Education and Moral Education in Modern Japan

<p> The purpose of this paper is to clarify the theory of habit in Yujiro Motora (1858-1912), who became a Tokyo Imperial University professor after receiving a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 1888. He constructed the theories of ethics and moral education with his study on psychology centered on the concept of habit. In the history of psychology, he is considered the first person to introduce psychophysics/positive (experimental) psychology to modern Japan. However, his theory of habit has not been examined. Therefore, this paper considers his theory of habit through examination of his theories on: psychophysics/psychology, ethics, and moral education (shushin-kyouiku).</p><p> This paper consists of the following sections:</p><p>1. Introduction</p><p>2. Definition of the concept of habit as ethics</p><p>3. Structure of the theory habit in psychophysics/psychology and ethics</p><p>4. Structure of the theory of habit in moral education (shushin-kyouiku)</p><p>5. Conclusion</p><p> The first section of this paper presents the fundamental framework of the previous studies ethics education and moral education in modern Japan, and the issues addressed in this paper.</p><p> The second section reveals the definition and concept of habit as ethics through Motora's paper “Is ethics science or philosophy ? ” (1890). In this paper, he raises two points. One is that ethics is quite different from morals, which have an aspect of introduction. The other is that ethics is the formation of habit through experience.</p><p> The third section considers the structure of the theory of habit in psychophysics / psychology and ethics. Motora raises a critical question on the antinomy of consciousness and unconsciousness in actions. His answer that ethics not only has norms, as in the Categorical imperative of Kant, but forms the ethical subject through experience and selection. Namely, ethics functions to create individual ethical norms, based on the Categorical Imperative as a form of absolute norms, in addition to experience and selection. Here, his theory is characterized by its base in empirical science through the positive psychology of Wilhelm Wundt.</p><p> The forth section describes the structure of the theory of habit in moral education (shushin-kyouiku). At the time, it seemed that moral education served to form the people of the nation through indoctrinating them with national morality. Motora was against this. The objective of his theory of moral education, based on Darwin's theory of evolution in ethics, was self-formation through individual experience and selection.</p><p> The fifth section, as the conclusion of this paper, describes its findings. In brief, the formation of the modern nation included the potential for ethical and moral education (shushin-kyouiku) centerd on habit as self-formation through individual experience and selection.</p>