Zen and Philosophy

Chapter 10. Consolidation of the Philosophy Department: (1913–1917)

Chapter 10 Consolidation of the Philosophy Department (1913–1917) The year 1913, the second year of Taisho, marked a personal, professional , and intellectual turning point for Nishida. He felt he was ready to tackle substantial philosophical problems, and thus on New Year’s Day he began writing an essay “Shii to chokkan” [Thinking and intuition ], with which he embarked on the long and winding road that saw its end in 1917 in his second book, Jikaku ni okeru chokkan to hansei [Intuition and reflection in self-consciousness].1 To begin something new with the new year’s arrival was something ingrained in Nishida; as we recall he began writing his seminal essay on pure experience on January 3, 1908. The sense of renewal brought about at the beginning of the year seems to have stimulated a creative urge in Nishida. He at first thought that he could tackle the problem of the relationship between “value and existence” on the one hand, and “meaning and fact” on the other, in a fairly straightforward manner and be done with it. But once he began his inquiry, one question led to the next, and he was to spend the next four years working on this set of problems. What he called the “documents of the hard battles I fought in my philosophical reflections”2 thus commenced. In January 1913 Tomonaga Sanjürö returned from his study abroad in Germany. There was talk among Nishida’s colleagues that it was now his turn to study abroad, for there was a tacit understanding that Nishida would be promoted to full professor because Kuwaki Gen’yoku was expected to be Raphael von Koeber’s successor at Tokyo Imperial University. When the opportunity to study abroad finally arose, however, Nishida was no longer interested in it. He explained: “Even if I went abroad to study, there would be nothing to be gained therefrom. Since I’m at the point where my thought is beginning to Consolidation of the Philosophy Department (1913 –1917) take its shape, for me to waste a few years essentially doing nothing but sightseeing interests me little. Moreover, my going abroad would cause financial difficulties to my family.”3 In the face of Nishida’s firm determination, his colleagues dropped the idea. This was the closest Nishida came to seeing Europe with his own eyes. In March his eldest daughter, Yayoi, was accepted by the elite Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School (renamed Ochanomizu Women’s University in 1949).4 Yayoi moved to Tokyo from Kanazawa and began her college life. Yayoi’s achievement gave Nishida a sense of tremendous satisfaction. He went to Tokyo to accompany Yayoi on the occasion of the school entrance ceremony held on April 10. The Philosophical Society seized this opportunity and asked Nishida to give a talk. Nishida happily obliged, and on April 6 he spoke about “History and Natural Sciences,”5 treating the subjective dimension of historical events in relation to the creativity of individuals. He chose the topic in part because he was critical of the trend advocated by Rickert and others to draw a clear line between the natural sciences and the “sciences of history.”6 Nishida explains: 136 University of Kyoto, philosophy department, 1913 or possibly 1914. Second row from left to right: Kuwaki Gen’yoku, Nishida, Tomonaga Sanjürö; third row between Nishida and Tomonaga is Amano Teiyü. Other figures unknown. From Nishida Kitarö Zenshü, vol. 14, frontispiece. Consolidation of the Philosophy Department (1913 –1917) I thought that setting up arbitrary divisions in scholarly research had to be examined carefully. The nature of natural sciences has been very much studied since Kant, but not enough has been done in the area of Kulturwissenschaft, or cultural studies. I think this is a problem that merits a thorough investigation, and I’m greatly interested in it.7 Following his talk, members of the Philosophical Society hosted a dinner in his honor, where he saw his friends Suzuki Daisetz and Tokunö Bun, as well as colleagues and acquaintances, including Inoue Tetsujirö, Tanaka Ödö, Fujii Kenjirö, Hayami Hiroshi, Hatta Miki, and younger philosophy students such as Takahashi Satomi (who wrote the review article on Zen no kenkyü), Itö Kichinosuke, and Miyamoto Wakichi (editors of the Tetsugaku Zasshi), and Tanabe Hajime. This was the first time Nishida saw Tanabe, and soon they began corresponding . (Their correspondence is the subject of chapter 11.) In...