Members

• [Japanese] SANADA Wataru 眞田航, 2024. “Nishida Kitarō no kouki tetsugaku ni okeru metamorphose no riron: Katachi, zettaimu, hanpuku wo megutte:” 西田幾多郎の後期哲学におけるメタモルフォーゼの理論――形・絶対無・反復をめぐって：[The Theory of Metamorphose in Nishida Kitarō’s Later Philosophy: Form, Absolute Nothingness, and Repetition]. Tetsugaku 哲学[Philosophy], 75, pp. 185-202.
• [Japanese] SANADA Wataru 眞田航, 2023. “Zyunsui keiken no yūgensei ni tsuite: Zen no kenkyu made no Nishida Kitarō no sisō teki hensen kara” 純粋経験の有限性について――『善の研究』までの西田幾多郎の思想的変遷から：[The Finitude of Pure Experiences: The Theoretical Transition to An Inquiry into the Good in Nishida Kitaō’s Philosophy] Kyūshin 求真 [Seeking the truth], vol. 28, pp. 175-198.
• [English] SANADA Wataru, 2022. “Dialectical Monadology and Innumerable Species: The Concept of Species in Nishida Kitarō’s Later Philosophy,” European Journal of Japanese Philosophy, vol. 7, pp. 191-210.

Modern Japanese Philosophy, Intellectual History of Modern Japan

I have specialized in the Kyoto School, which played a central role in Japanese philosophy in the first half of the 20th century, and have conducted research in collaboration with scholars from diverse backgrounds, including the intellectual history of Japan, anthropology, literature, and political science. Through this process, I have come to realize that philosophical research is significantly influenced by the historical circumstances in which it is conducted. Therefore, I aspire to be a researcher who continually reexamines my research from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Additionally, I aim to develop my philosophical research further and apply it to addressing contemporary social issues.

In this project, I will examine the possibility (or impossibility) of reconciliation from the perspective of Kuki Shūzō’s philosophy of contingency.

The Kyoto School sets up “nothingness” as a universal that transcends all particulars, and then links it to a specific particular, “Japan.” They thereby philosophically justify Japan’s dominance of Asia. However, I believe that the Kyoto School also holds the potential for overcoming such philosophical nationalism, and this lies in Kuki’s philosophy of contingency. While Kuki occasionally succumbs to philosophical nationalism, he also underscores the importance of contingent encounters between individuals who do not share the same universal values. This emphasis on contingency could dismantle the hierarchical relationship between rulers and the ruled, which is based on philosophical nationalism.

Furthermore, this philosophy of contingency prompts us to reassess the concept of collective memory that forms the foundation of nationalism. Although we often perceive that everyone within our group shares the same collective memory, in reality, each individual’s experiences vary, creating gaps between us. Kuki’s philosophy of contingency illuminates these gaps, revealing that we do not inhabit a singular collective memory.

I anticipate that the philosophy of contingency will shift the focus from reconciliation rooted in pre-established harmony—where one particular assumes the role of the universal (the ruler)—to a reconciliation grounded in the ex-post mediation of contingent encounters among individuals who do not share the same universal values.

Philosophical Nationalism and Kuki Shūzō’s Philosophy of Contingency