Faculty of Letters Professor Takao Ito's book "Neo-Kantian Philosophy and Modern Japan: Reception and Development" has been published

This book summarizes the results of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research B "History and Significance of Neo-Kantian Reception in Modern Japan: Focusing on Negotiations with the Social Sciences" and "Development, Significance, and Characteristics of Neo-Kantian Value Philosophy in the First Half of the Showa War: Interdisciplinary and International Research", of which Professor Takao Ito has been the principal investigator since 2020. It contains about 40 papers and columns by a total of 29 people, and is a large-scale collection of 688 pages in total.

Neo-Kantian was a trend of thought that had global influence from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, and was actively accepted in Japan from the end of the Meiji era to the early Showa period. Its influence is not limited to philosophy, but also covers economics, political science, law, education, and even criticism and literature.
In this book, including German neo-Kantian philosophers such as Vindelwand and Rikert, as well as those who introduced them to the Japan, such as Taketsu Kuwaki and Kiichiro Sakuda, Kitaro Nishida, Gen Tanabe, Sanjuro Asanaga, Kiyoshi Miki and other Kyoto School, thinkers in Tokyo such as Eijiro Kawai and Shigeru Minamihara, thinkers in the opposition such as Anmura Tsuchida and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, literary scholars such as Riichi Yokomitsu and Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and female thinkers such as Akiko Yosano and Fumi Takahashi. It covers 40 people.

At the beginning of the book, there is a "Speech of Recommendation" by Professor Margit Ruffin of the Kant Institute at the University of Mainz, Germany. Mr. Rupin evaluates this book as "a basic document that will contribute to future research on the history of thought and the philosophy of value in modern Japan" and "sets a new milestone for neo-Kantian research itself."
Professor Hans Martin Kremer of the Institute of Japan Studies at Heidelberg University also contributed to the reprint, translation, and commentary on three "Likert Handwritten Letters" from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Collection. A color photograph of the letter is also published at the beginning of the book, and it is a first-class content in terms of material value.

Professor Ito said, "The publication of this book is the result of the knowledge and cooperation of many researchers. It comprehensively depicts how modern Japan has received neo-Kantian philosophy and developed it in various fields of thought, literature, and social science. As research on 'Japan philosophy' becomes more active around the world, I hope that this book will open the door to new research as an attempt to properly place the activities of Japan thinkers in an international context."​

Professor

Takao Ito

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Specialized Field

Philosophy/ethics, history of thought

Research theme

Modern German Thought, Social Contract Theory, and Spiritual and Cultural History