Setsurei Miyake

Philosopher and critic of civilization. Born in Kanazawa as the son of a doctor employed by the chief retainer of the Kaga domain. His pen name, Setsurei, was named after the famous peak of Mt. Hakusan in Kaga. He studied Chinese classics as well as English and French from an early age. After graduating from Kaisei School in 1883 (Meiji 16) from the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo, he immediately began working at the University of Tokyo Editorial Office as an associate professor, where he was involved in editing the history of Japanese Buddhism. He later moved to the Ministry of Education's editorial bureau, but resigned in 1887. From then on, he remained in the shadows for the rest of his life, and was active as a critic full of philosophical insight. In 1888, he founded Seikyosha with Inoue Enryo, Shiga Shigetaka, and Sugiura Shigetaka, and began publishing the magazine Nihonjin. At the same time, he maintained a close friendship with Riku Katsunan and often contributed to the newspaper "Nippon," whose editor-in-chief was Riku. From this period onwards, he was highly active as a journalist, serving as editor-in-chief of the "Koko Shinbun" newspaper and writing editorials for the newspaper "Kokkai," while also being one of the leading opinion leaders who duly evaluated the unique value of the East and Japan in human history in works such as "The Truthful, Good, and Beautiful Japanese" and "The False and Ugliest Japanese" in 1891 and "My View of a Little Landscape" in 1892, in an era when Western culture was overwhelmingly superior. During this time, he lectured at Tokyo Senmon Gakko (now Waseda University) and Tetsugakukan (now Toyo University), where he taught logic and the history of Western philosophy. His activities as a literary critic continued unabated after that, and he continued to write social commentary, philosophies of life, and advice for life for various newspapers and magazines. These were published as a series of advice for life such as "Life Lessons," "Youth Lessons," "The Journey of Man," and "The World," which were widely read and loved as books for the self-cultivation of the contemporary generation. From 1923 to 1945 (Taisho 12 to Showa 20), he published "My View" in collaboration with his son-in-law, Nakano Seigo, and serialized "Contemporary View" in the magazine for 20 years, which was later published as "Contemporary History." In 1943, he was awarded the Order of Culture. A healthy sense of nationalism was the backbone of his critical activities over three generations, and his ideas are evaluated as having continued from the nationalism of the mid-Meiji period through Taisho democracy and Taisho culturalism until after World War II in the form of "a reference for cultural creation."

[Kazuhisa Tashiro September 16, 2016]

"Complete Collection of Meiji Literature 33: Miyake Setsurei Collection" edited by Yanagida Izumi (1967, Chikuma Shobo) " "The Formation of Meiji Thought" by Motoyama Yukihiko (1969, Fukumura Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

哲学者、文明評論家。加賀藩家老のお抱え医師の子として金沢に生まれる。号の雪嶺は加賀の名峰白山(はくさん)にちなむ。幼時より漢学とともに英語、フランス語を学ぶ。開成学校を経て1883年（明治16）東京大学文学部哲学科を卒業、ただちに東京大学準助教授として東京大学編輯(へんしゅう)所に勤務、日本仏教史の編集に従事した。のち文部省編輯局に移ったが1887年これを辞し、以後、終生野にあって哲学的見識に満ちた評論家として旺盛(おうせい)な活躍をした。1888年井上円了(いのうええんりょう)、志賀重昂(しがしげたか)、杉浦重剛(すぎうらしげたけ)らと政教社を創立、雑誌『日本人』を発刊。同時に陸羯南(くがかつなん)とも親交を保ち陸主筆の新聞『日本』にもしばしば寄稿した。この時期以降、ジャーナリストとしての彼の活躍は目覚ましく、『江湖(こうこ)新聞』の主筆、新聞『国会』の社説を担当する一方で、1891年の『真善美日本人』『偽醜悪日本人』、1892年の『我観小景』などの著作において、欧米文化の圧倒的優位という時代状況のなかで、人類史における東洋や日本の固有の価値を正当に評価する有力なオピニオン・リーダーの一人であった。この間、東京専門学校（現、早稲田(わせだ)大学）、哲学館（現、東洋大学）に出講し、論理学や西洋哲学史を講義した。彼の文筆評論家活動はその後も絶えることなく、各新聞・雑誌に社会時評や人生論、処世訓などを書き続け、これらは『人生訓』『青年訓』『人の行路』『世の中』などの処世訓シリーズとして同時代の修養の書として広く愛読された。1923～1945年（大正12～昭和20）には女婿中野正剛(なかのせいごう)と共同で『我観』を刊行し、同誌上に20年間にわたって、のちに『同時代史』として刊行される「同時代観」を連載した。1943年文化勲章を受章。3代にわたる彼の評論活動を貫くバックボーンは健全なナショナリズムの感覚であったが、彼の思想は、明治中期のナショナリズムが大正デモクラシーや大正文化主義を経て、「文化創造への参照」という形で第二次世界大戦後まで継続されたものとして評価される。

［田代和久　2016年9月16日］

『柳田泉編『明治文学全集33　三宅雪嶺集』（1967・筑摩書房）』▽『本山幸彦著『明治思想の形成』（1969・福村出版）』

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