Hajime Tanabe

Japanese: 田辺元 - たなべはじめ

Philosopher. Born in Tokyo. Graduated from the Department of Science at the First Senior High School. Graduated from the Department of Philosophy at the College of Letters, Tokyo Imperial University. Initially, he sat in the Department of Mathematics, but later switched to the Department of Philosophy. He had a lifelong interest in and deep knowledge of mathematics and physics, and in 1913 (Taisho 2), he became a lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Tohoku Imperial University. His first book was "Recent Natural Science" (1915, Iwanami Shoten), and three years later he published "An Introduction to Science" (ibid.). In 1917, he received his doctorate in literature for his thesis "Research in Mathematical Philosophy." Although he had a deep knowledge of mathematics and natural science, his thinking and knowledge were based on philosophy, which was rare in Japanese academia and had original value. This philosophy was actually that of Nishida Kitaro, and in 1919, he was invited by Nishida to become an assistant professor at the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto Imperial University. After that, he published a series of full-scale philosophical papers. This marked the beginning of the golden age of the Kyoto School, with Professor Nishida's final and original lecture on the philosophy of "The Place of Absolute Nothingness."

[Iwao Takayama September 16, 2016]

Tanabe Philosophy - The Logic of Species

He became a professor when Nishida retired, and gradually began to develop a philosophical stance that was different in tone from "Nishida philosophy," which eventually led to the development of what could be called "Tanabe philosophy." Tanabe's lectures filled the large classrooms almost to capacity, and there was a considerable number of graduates. Some of them were left-wing converts, and Tanabe began to advocate the "logic of species." These included essays such as "The Logic of Social Being" (Vol. 1, 2, 1934-1935), "The Logic of Species and the World Schema" (1935), and "The Social Ontological Structure of Logic" (1936), which were serialized in Kyoto Imperial University's journal, Philosophical Research. While Nishida's place-based logic is based on a dual structure of "place" and "individual," Tanabe's logic inserts "species" between them and advocates a three-dimensional structure of "class," "species," and "individual." This led Tanabe to take a critical stance toward Nishida's philosophy, but what Tanabe had in mind under "species" was "class" (Marxism) and "race" (Nazis).

[Iwao Takayama September 16, 2016]

Philosophy as a path of penitence

The world was showing signs of great upheaval, and in Japan, too, liberal thought and communist ideology were suppressed. The Ministry of Education established a new Educational Bureau, and it became a dangerous time for free expression in speech and education. Finally, with Japan's entry into the Second World War, totalitarianism came to an end with its defeat. Tanabe retired in March of 1945 (Showa 20), the year the war ended, and, free as he was, he moved to a mountain villa in Kitakaruizawa, Gunma Prefecture, where he never left for the rest of his life. The following year, in 1946, he published "Philosophy as the Way of Repentance," which attracted attention, but this was based on a lecture titled "The Way of Repentance" that he had given at Kyoto University in 1944. He lectured to a small number of his students from his time at Kyoto University every summer, and based his lectures on the "logic of species," he spoke on a wide range of subjects, from politics to religion, art, and science. In 1950, he was awarded the Order of Culture, and in 1957, he received an honorary doctorate in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the founding of the University of Freiburg in (then) West Germany. In 1959, he was asked by existentialist philosopher Heidegger to contribute "Todesdialektik" ("Dialectics of Death"; part of "Vivalology of Life or Dialectics of Death?") to his "70th Birthday Collection." He died on April 29, 1962, at the age of 77. As a philosopher with unique views on religion, he strictly forbade a funeral, and was buried in his home alongside his wife, who had died about 10 years earlier, and a monument to the couple has been erected.

All of his books, papers, speeches and lectures are collected in the 15th volume of the Complete Works of Tanabe Gen.

[Iwao Takayama September 16, 2016]

"The Complete Works of Gen Tanabe, 15 volumes (1963-1964, Chikuma Shobo)"

[Reference] | Kitaro Nishida

Gen Tanabe
©Shogakukan Library ">

Gen Tanabe

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

哲学者。東京に生まれる。第一高等学校理科卒業。東京帝国大学文科大学哲学科卒業。初め数学科に席を置いたが、のちに哲学科に転ず。数学ならびに物理学に終生関心強く、また造詣(ぞうけい)深く、1913年（大正2）東北帝国大学理学部講師となる。最初の著書は『最近の自然科学』（1915・岩波書店）、3年後『科学概論』を出版（前出同）。1917年「数理哲学研究」の論文にて文学博士となる。数学、自然科学に造詣が深いといっても、その思索の立場と学識は哲学に立脚するもので、日本の学界では珍しく、かつ独創の価値を存するものであった。そしてこの哲学は実は西田幾多郎(にしだきたろう)のそれであり、1919年西田の招きにより京都帝国大学文学部助教授に就任。その後は本格的な哲学的論文を陸続と発表。西田教授最後の独創的な「絶対無の場所」の哲学の講義とともに「京都学派」の黄金時代を開くようになる。

［高山岩男　2016年9月16日］

田辺哲学――種の論理

西田の停年退職とともに教授となるが、このころより漸次「西田哲学」と趣(おもむき)を異にする哲学的立場が芽生え、やがて「田辺哲学」ともよぶべきものが育成されていく。田辺の講義には大教室がほとんど満員となり、卒業生の数が相当多かった。そのなかには左翼転向の士もおり、田辺は「種の論理」を提唱するようになる。京都帝国大学の機関誌『哲学研究』に連載された「社会存在の論理」（上中下、1934～1935）、「種の論理と世界図式」（1935）、「論理の社会存在論的構造」（1936）等の論文がこれで、西田哲学の場所的論理が「場所」と「個物」の二元構造にたつのに対し、その間に「種」を入れ、「類」「種」「個」の三元構造を唱える論理である。これで田辺は西田哲学に批判的態度をとるようになるが、「種」のもとに田辺の念頭に存したのは「階級」（マルクス主義）と「人種」（ナチス）なのであった。

［高山岩男　2016年9月16日］

懺悔道としての哲学

世界は大動乱の兆しを呈し、日本国内もまた自由思潮と共産思想の弾圧となり、文部省内には教学局が新設されて、言論も教育も表面では自由な表現は危険な時代となった。ついに日本の参戦とともに第二次世界大戦となり、日本の敗戦で全体主義はいちおうその猛威に終了を告げた。田辺は1945年（昭和20）終戦の年の3月で停年退職、自由の身となって群馬県北軽井沢の山荘に移住し、終生この地を離れなかった。翌1946年『懺悔道(ざんげどう)としての哲学』を刊行して注目されたが、これは1944年に京大で行った「懺悔道」と題する講演を基にしたものであった。そして京大時代の教え子の少数には毎夏講義を開き、また、「種の論理」を基盤に据えて、政治から宗教、芸術、科学に至る広範な分野に発言した。1950年に文化勲章受章、1957年西ドイツ（当時）のフライブルク大学創立500年記念の名誉博士号を受けた。1959年実存主義哲学者ハイデッガーの『70歳記念論文集』へ依頼を受けて、Todesdialektik（「死の弁証法」。『生の生存学か死の弁証法か』の一部分）を寄稿。昭和37年4月29日、77歳で死去。宗教に独自の見解をもつ哲学者としていわゆる葬儀を行うことを固く禁じ、邸内に、約10年前に死去した夫人とともに埋葬され、夫妻の記念碑が建っている。

　著書・論文、講演・講義の類は『田辺元全集』15巻にすべて収録。

［高山岩男　2016年9月16日］

『『田辺元全集』全15巻（1963～1964・筑摩書房）』

[参照項目] | 西田幾多郎

田辺元

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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