Masao Maruyama

Philosopher, politician and historian. Born in Osaka. His father was Kanji Maruyama. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in 1937 (Showa 12). After working as an assistant, he became an associate professor at the University of Tokyo in 1940. After the war (1953), he compiled his work into a book, "Research on the History of Japanese Political Thought," which was published in the wartime journal "Kokugakuka Gakkai Zasshi" for five years before being drafted. In 1950 (Showa 25), he became a professor at the University of Tokyo, resigning in 1971. At the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he consistently taught courses on the broad and unexplored field of the history of Eastern political thought. Meanwhile, his main work, Expanded Edition: Thoughts and Actions of Modern Politics (1964, first published 1956-1957), was a compilation of current and fundamental critiques ranging from discussions of nationalism, fascism, ultranationalism, the Emperor System, the Meiji Restoration, and modernization politics to criticism of the Stalinist regime in the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Revolution, which played a leading role in the postwar intellectual world. The phrase "thoughts and actions" of such and such became a kind of catchphrase, and the words he wrote in the afterword to this collection of essays, "As for my own choice, I would rather bet on the 'illusion' of postwar democracy than the 'reality' of the Empire of Japan," symbolize Maruyama's political science as a whole. His "Studies on the History of Japanese Political Thought," a monument to his wartime youth, is a work that finds the seeds of modernization in the process of thought development from the Edo period Confucian scholar Ogyu Sorai to the Japanese classicist Motoori Norinaga, and became a cornerstone of postwar research into early modern history and Norinaga. In his later years, he published "Reading 'An Outline of Civilization Theory'" (Iwanami Shinsho, Vols. 1, 2, 1986), which, together with "Thoughts of Japan" (Iwanami Shinsho, 1961), vividly demonstrates his status as a scholar practicing enlightenment.

[Makoto Nakajima September 16, 2016]

"Modern Political Thought and Action, Expanded Edition (1964/New Edition, 2006, Miraisha)" ▽ "Maruyama Masao, Between the War and the Postwar Period -- 1936-1957 (1976, Misuzu Shobo)" ▽ "Maruyama Masao, From the Rearguard Position -- Supplement to 'Modern Political Thought and Action'" (1982, Miraisha)" ▽ "Studies on the History of Japanese Political Thought, New Edition (1983, University of Tokyo Press)" ▽ "Reading 'Outline of a Theory of Civilization', Volumes 1, 2 and 3 (Iwanami Shinsho)" ▽ "Japanese Thought (Iwanami Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

思想家、政治・歴史学者。大阪生まれ。父は丸山幹治(かんじ)。1937年（昭和12）東京帝国大学法学部卒業。助手を経て1940年東大助教授。戦後（1953）一書にまとめた『日本政治思想史研究』を、戦時下『国家学会雑誌』に5年間掲載して応召。1950年（昭和25）東大教授、1971年辞職。東大法学部では、東洋政治思想史という広範で未開拓な分野の講座を一貫して担当。一方、主著『増補版・現代政治の思想と行動』（1964、初版は1956～1957）では、ナショナリズム、ファシズム、超国家主義、天皇制、明治維新、近代化政治などの論から、ソ連のスターリン体制や中国共産革命の批判に至るアクチュアルで同時に原理的な評論を集大成して、戦後の思想界に主導的な役割を果たした。何々の「思想と行動」という言い方は一種の流行語ともなり、この論集の後記に書いた「私自身の選択についていうならば、大日本帝国の“実在”よりも戦後民主主義の“虚妄”の方に賭(か)ける」ということばは丸山政治学の全体を象徴している。彼の戦争中の青春期モニュメントといえる『日本政治思想史研究』は、江戸時代の儒学者荻生徂徠(おぎゅうそらい)から国学者本居宣長(もとおりのりなが)に至る思想展開の過程に近代化の萌芽(ほうが)をみいだす仕事で、戦後の近世史や宣長研究の礎石を築くものとなった。晩年『「文明論之概略」を読む』（岩波新書上中下、1986）を発表、『日本の思想』（岩波新書、1961）とともに、啓蒙(けいもう)実践の学者の面目、躍如たるものがある。

［中島　誠　2016年9月16日］

『『現代政治の思想と行動』増補版（1964／新装版・2006・未来社）』▽『丸山真男著『戦中と戦後の間――1936―1957』（1976・みすず書房）』▽『丸山真男著『後衛の位置から――「現代政治の思想と行動」追補』（1982・未来社）』▽『『日本政治思想史研究』新装版（1983・東京大学出版会）』▽『『「文明論之概略」を読む』上中下（岩波新書）』▽『『日本の思想』（岩波新書）』

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