Tetsuro Watsuji

Ethicist and cultural historian. Born into a medical family in Hyogo Prefecture. When he was a junior high school student in Himeji, he dreamed of becoming a poet like Byron, but when he was a student at the former First Higher School, his senior Uozumi Kageo (Setsuro) encouraged him to study philosophy, the foundation of all sciences, and he went on to study philosophy at the Faculty of Letters of Tokyo Imperial University. During his time at the university, he was deeply impressed by the lectures "Recent European Literary History" by Professor Otsuka Yasuji (1869-1931) and "History of Eastern Art and Crafts" by lecturer Okakura Tenshin, but he also became a member of the second edition of Shinshicho and continued to be interested in literature. During his first year at the Faculty of Letters, he wrote "The Influence of Nietzsche on Shaw," but there was a time when he devoted himself to Bernard Shaw. He soon became interested in Nietzsche, but was unable to complete his graduation thesis due to opposition from his supervisor, and released his frustrations by publishing "Studies on Nietzsche" the year after his graduation (1913). He then published "Zehlen Kierkegor" (1915), becoming a pioneer in the study of existential philosophy in Japan.

However, at the beginning of the year when he was 29 years old, he started to have a strong tendency to think in accordance with the object, and he visited Yamato and made a pilgrimage to ancient temples, motivated by his desire to see the lives of his ancestors. The travelogue is "Pilgrimage to Ancient Temples" (1919), and this trip made him question who were the Japanese who created such great art as the sculptures and architecture of the Asuka and Nara periods. This question was answered in a series of studies on the history of Japanese spirit and culture, beginning with "Ancient Japanese Culture" (1920), such as "Studies in the History of the Japanese Spirit" (1926), "Continued Studies in the History of the Japanese Spirit" (1935), and "History of Japanese Ethical Thought" (1952). Buddhism occupies a large proportion of this Japanese studies, and "Practical Philosophy of Primitive Buddhism" (1927) is an attempt to grasp Buddhist thought in its pure form, and his research method is based on modern German philology, which he learned from Professor Koeber when he was a student. This is shown in Criticism of Homer (1946), but other works such as The Cultural Historical Significance of Early Christianity (1926) and Confucius (1938) were also painstakingly produced using the same method.

In 1934 (Showa 9), he transferred from Kyoto University, where he had worked for over eight years, to the University of Tokyo, where his systematic research into ethics, which had been taking shape since the end of his time in Kyoto, bore fruit in the form of the three-volume "Rinrigaku" (Ethics) (1937-1949). Prior to that, "Rinrigaku as a Study of Man" (Ethics) (1934) offered a new interpretation that ethics are the relationship between people, and the theory he devised in "Fudo" (Fudo) (1935), based on his experiences traveling abroad, was also subtitled "Humanistic Observations". His later works were also diverse, including "Sakoku" (National Seclusion) (1950), which investigated the causes of the defeat and attempted a world historical reflection on human ethics, "Studies in the History of Japanese Art (Kabuki and Joruri)" (1955), and "An Attempt at an Autobiography" (1961), which were collected and published in 20 volumes as "The Complete Works of Watsuji Tetsuro" (1961-1963). In 1955 (Showa 30), he was awarded the Order of Culture.

[Tetsushi Furukawa September 16, 2016]

"The Complete Works of Watsuji Tetsuro, 20 volumes in total (1961-1963/25 volumes and 2 supplementary volumes, 1989-1992, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Fudo" (1935, Iwanami Shoten/Iwanami Bunko) ▽ "Sakoku" (1964, Chikuma Shobo/volumes 1 and 2, Iwanami Bunko) ▽ "Memories of Watsuji Tetsuro by Watsuji Teru (1963, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Watsuji Tetsuro by Yuasa Yasuo (1981, Minerva Shobo/Chikuma Gakugei Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

倫理学者、文化史家。兵庫県の医家に生まれる。姫路中学生であったころは、バイロンのような詩人になるのを夢みていたが、旧制第一高等学校生徒時代、先輩の魚住影雄(うおずみかげお)（折蘆(せつろ)）から万学の基礎である哲学を学ぶように勧められ、東京帝国大学文科大学哲学科に進んだ。在学中、大塚保治（1869―1931）教授の「最近欧州文芸史」と岡倉天心(おかくらてんしん)講師の「泰東巧芸史」をもっとも深い感銘をもって聴講したが、かたわら第二次『新思潮』の同人となり、文芸への関心を絶たなかった。文科大学1年のとき「ショウに及ぼしたるニイチェの影響」を書いているが、バーナード・ショーに専念した一時期があった。しかしまもなく関心はニーチェに移り、その研究を卒業論文にしようとしたが、指導教授の反対で果たさず、その鬱憤(うっぷん)を、卒業した翌年（1913）に公刊した『ニイチェ研究』で晴らした。ついで『ゼエレン・キェルケゴオル』（1915）を出し、日本における実存哲学研究の先駆者となった。

　しかし、29歳の年の初めごろから、対象に即する思惟(しい)への傾向を強め、祖先の生活を見つめようとする動機から大和(やまと)の地を訪ね、古寺巡礼の旅をした。その旅行記が『古寺巡礼』（1919）で、この旅行によって、飛鳥(あすか)・奈良時代の彫刻・建築のような偉大な芸術を創造した日本人は何者であったかという疑問に追い立てられた。この疑問に答えたのが『日本古代文化』（1920）に始まる一連の日本精神史、日本文化史の研究――『日本精神史研究』（1926）、『続日本精神史研究』（1935）、『日本倫理思想史』（1952）などである。この日本研究のなかで仏教の占める比重は大きいが、その仏教思想を純粋な姿でとらえようとしたのが『原始仏教の実践哲学』（1927）で、その研究方法は、学生時代にケーベル教授から教え込まれたドイツの近代文献学によっている。そのことは『ホメロス批判』（1946）が示しているが、『原始キリスト教の文化史的意義』（1926）、『孔子』（1938）なども同じ方法をもってした労作である。

　1934年（昭和9）、それまで8年余勤務した京都大学から東京大学へ転任したが、京都時代の末期から形成されつつあった倫理学の体系的研究が結実して『倫理学』3巻（1937～1949）となった。それに先だって『人間の学としての倫理学』（1934）に人と人との間柄が倫理であるという新しい解釈がなされ、海外旅行の体験を踏まえて編み出された『風土』（1935）の理論も「人間学的考察」という副題が付されている。敗戦の原因を究明して人倫の世界史的反省を試みた『鎖国』（1950）、『日本芸術史研究（歌舞伎(かぶき)と操浄瑠璃(あやつりじょうるり)）』（1955）、『自叙伝の試み』（1961）など晩年の業績も多彩で、それらは集められて『和辻哲郎全集』全20巻として刊行された（1961～1963）。1955年（昭和30）文化勲章が授与された。

［古川哲史　2016年9月16日］

『『和辻哲郎全集』全20巻（1961～1963／25巻・別巻2・1989〜1992・岩波書店）』▽『『風土』（1935・岩波書店／岩波文庫）』▽『『鎖国』（1964・筑摩書房／上下・岩波文庫）』▽『和辻照著『和辻哲郎の思ひ出』（1963・岩波書店）』▽『湯浅泰雄著『和辻哲郎』（1981・ミネルヴァ書房／ちくま学芸文庫）』

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