Hajime Onishi

Japanese: 大西祝 - おおにし・はじめ

Year of death: November 2, 1900 (Meiji 33)
Year of birth: 1864.8.7 (Genji 1.7.6)
A Meiji period philosopher. He went by the pen name Misao. He was born in Nishida-cho, Okayama, Bizen Province (Okayama City) as the third son of Masanobu and Kayo Kimata, samurai of the Okayama domain, and was adopted into his mother's family, the Onishi family. While attending elementary school, he studied Shogaku, Kogyo, Nihon Gaishi, and other texts at the Matsumura family academy. As his parents were devout Christians, he entered Doshisha English School in 1877, was baptized by Niijima Jo in 1888, graduated from the school's general and theology departments, and studied philosophy and ethics at the Faculty of Letters (later the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Letters) and graduate school. In 1890, he debated with Kato Hiroyuki about moralism in the Tetsugakukai Zasshi, and with Motoyoshi Yujiro about the academic nature of ethics, and made a name for himself with his graduation thesis "The Origin of Conscience." From 1891 to 1896, he lectured on philosophy, psychology, logic, ethics, aesthetics, and the history of Western philosophy at Tokyo Senmon Gakko (Waseda University). He worked as an editor for the Christian intellectual magazine Rokugo Zasshi, writing a "Criticism of Thought" for each issue. He established the field of "criticism" by learning from Kant's critical philosophy. In 1926, he published "The Imperial Rescript on Education and Ethics," critically discussing the Imperial Rescript on Education, and on the issue of the "conflict between education and religion," he advocated the independence of ethics and criticized nationalism. In 1931, he studied in Germany, learning from Eucken and Wundt. In 1932, he returned to Japan and was appointed professor of philosophy at Kyoto Imperial University, but died in Okayama due to illness. He was a progressive citizen philosopher who adopted the critical idealism that Kant preached, based on true enlightenment. He was also a skilled poet, and was blessed with an artistic sensibility. <Works> "Complete Works of Dr. Onishi," 7 volumes <References> "Japanese Idealism" by Saegusa Hirone, "Onishi Iwai" by Onodera Kazuko ("Modern Literature Research Series," vol. 4)

(Tetsuya Ohama)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：明治33.11.2(1900)
生年：元治1.7.6(1864.8.7)
明治期の哲学者。操山と号す。備前国岡山西田町(岡山市)に岡山藩士木全正脩・嘉代の3男として生まれ,母の実家大西家の養子となる。小学校に通学するかたわら,松村家塾で『小学』『孝経』『日本外史』などを修む。父母が熱心なキリスト者であったため,明治10(1877)年同志社英学校に入学,11年新島襄より受洗,同校普通科,神学科を卒業,東京大学文学部(のち文科大学)哲学科,同大学院に学び,哲学,倫理学を専攻。23年『哲学会雑誌』で加藤弘之と道徳主義について論争,元良勇次郎と倫理学の学的性格について論争,卒論「良心起源論」で名をあげる。24年より31年まで東京専門学校(早稲田大学)で哲学,心理学,論理学,倫理学,美学,西洋哲学史等の講義を担当。キリスト教系知識人の雑誌『六合雑誌』の編集に従事し,毎号「思潮評論」を執筆,カントの批判哲学に学んで「批評」の分野を確立した。26年「教育勅語と倫理説」を発表し教育勅語を批判的に論じ,「教育と宗教の衝突」問題では,倫理の自立性を説いて,国家主義を批判した。31年ドイツに留学,オイケンとヴントに学ぶ。32年帰国,京都帝国大学哲学科主任教授に委嘱されたが病気のため岡山で没した。カントが説いた真に悟性をふまえた批判主義的理想主義を採り,進取の気象にみちた市民派哲学者。歌作もよくなし,芸術家的感性にもめぐまれていた。<著作>『大西博士全集』全7巻<参考文献>三枝博音『日本の観念論』,小野寺和子「大西祝」(『近代文学研究叢書』4巻)

(大濱徹也)

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