Abstract
This paper attempts to examine how the concept of character in Tosaka’s philosophy presents us with the distinctive features of a situated epistemology. To do this, I will make comparative, although by no means exhaustive, use of the work of Heinrich Rickert. I will not attempt to argue that Rickert was Tosaka’s main interlocutor; however, I will show that the concept of character can be understood as a response to one of the challenges posed by the neo-Kantian philosopher: how can history be grasped philosophically without falling into metaphysical reduction or subjective relativism? Tosaka would answer this question through the concepts of character and everydayness.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
28 February 2024
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43493-024-00032-z
References
Abbreviations
[MKZ] Miki, K. (1966–1986). 『三木清全集』[The complete works of Miki Kiyoshi]. Iwanami.
[TJZ] Tosaka, J. (1966–1968).『戸坂潤全集』[The complete works of Tosaka Jun]. Keisō Shobō.
Other sources
Bambach, C. R. (1995). Heidegger, Dilthey, and the crisis of historicism. Cornell University Press.
Beiser, F. C. (2012). Rickert and the philosophy of value. In F. C. Beiser (Ed.), The German historicist tradition (pp. 393–441). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199691555.003.0011
Bodde, E. R. (2022). Apocalyptic claims and the everyday: Tosaka Jun, history, and journalism. Asian Philosophy, 32(4), 383–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/09552367.2022.2107791
Brink, D. A. (2021). Philosophy of science and the Kyoto School: An introduction to Nishida Kitarō, Tanabe Hajime and Tosaka Jun. Bloomsbury Academic.
Chino, T. (2017). Is western Marxism Western? The cases of Gramsci and Tosaka. Journal of World Philosophies, 2, 28–41. https://doi.org/10.2979/jourworlphil.2.1.03
Cormick, C. (2022). Can standpoint epistemology avoid inconsistency, circularity, and unnecessariness? A comment on Ashton’s remarks about epistemic privilege. Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, 2(11), 29–41.
Crespín Perales, M. (2021). Tosaka Jun y las funciones epistémicas de la cultura: Materiales para un estudio sobre transhistoricidad e identidades colectivas. Logos Anales del Seminario de Metafísica, 54(1), 55–80.
Doak, K. M. (1998). Under the banner of the New Science: History, science, and the problem of particularity in early twentieth-century Japan. Philosophy East and West, 48(2), 232–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/1399827
Dreyfus, H. L. (2013). The myth of the pervasiveness of the mental. In J. K. Schear (Ed.), Mind, reason, and being-in-the-world (pp. 15–40). Routledge.
Goto, Y. (2008). 「戸坂潤の常識概念と,三木清」[The concept of common sense in Tosaka Jun and Miki Kiyoshi]. Library Information and Media Studies, 5(4), 57–87.
Harootunian, H. (2000a). History’s disquiet. Modernity, cultural practice, and the question of everyday Life. Columbia University Press.
Harootunian, H. (2000b). Overcome by modernity. History, culture and community in Interwar Japan. Princeton University Press.
Harootunian, H. (2019). Uneven moments. Reflections on Japan’s modern history. Columbia University Press.
Heidegger, M. (2010). In J. Stambaugh (Ed.), Being and time: A translation of Sein und Zeit. State University of New York Press.
Kawashima, K. C. (2013). Tosaka Jun: A critical reader. Cornell University Press.
Marcotte-Chenard, S. (2022). The critique of historical reason and the challenge of historicism. Dialogue, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0012217322000233
Mombe, M. (2018). 「中井**一における〈性格〉論の諸相」[Aspects of Nakai Masakazu’s theory of character]. Bulletin of the International Faculty of Social Studies, 3, 25–35.
Morrone, G. (2022). Between history and system. Heinrich Rickert’s concept of culture. Filozofija i društvo/Philosophy and Society, 33(2), 349–369. https://doi.org/10.2298/FID2202349M
Murthy, V. (2009). The tribulations of temporality. Impossible resistance in Takeuchi Yoshimi and Tosaka Jun. In T. Nakajima (Ed.), Whither Japanese philosophy? Reflections through other eyes (pp. 91–119). The University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy.
Nishikado, J. (2010). 「日本におけるルカーチの翻訳・受容史概観」[Overview of the history of translation and reception of Lukács in Japan]. Monthly Report of the Institute of Social Science, 568, 23–28.
Prooi, D. (2016). Tosaka Jun’s critique of hermeneutics. Erasmus Student Journal of Philosophy, 10, 36–48.
Rentsch, T. (2003). Sein und Zeit. Fundamentalontologie als Hermeneutik der Endlichkeit. In D. Thomä (Ed.), Heidegger-Handbuch (pp. 48–80). Metzler.
Rickert, H. (1920). Die Philosophie des Lebens. Darstellung und Kritik der philosophischen Modeströmungen unserer Zeit. J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
Rickert, H. (1924). Die Probleme der Geschichtsphilosophie. Eine Einführung. Carl Winter.
Rickert, H. (1986). The limits of concept formation in natural science: A logical introduction to the historical sciences. Cambridge University Press.
Schäfer, F., & Tosaka, J. (2011). Tosaka Jun: Ideologie-Medien-Alltag: eine Auswahl ideologiekritischer, kultur- und medientheoretischer und geschichtsphilosophischer Schriften. Leipziger Universitätsverlag.
Shimizu, K. (2022). The Kyoto school and international relations: non-Western attempts for a new world order. Routledge. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BC10674166
Stromback, D. (2021). The method of political resistance and the concept of the “people” in Tosaka Jun and Enrique Dussel. Journal of Resistance Studies, 7(2), 85–110.
Tairako, T. (2012).「戸坂潤における実践的唯物論構想」[The concept of practical materialism in Jun Tosaka] [Conference paper]. The National Materialism Research Conference, Tokyo, Japan, Hosei University, October 21.
Tosaka, J. (1995). Problemas intelectuales del Japón contemporáneo. In A. Jacinto Zavala (Ed.), Textos de la filosofía japonesa moderna: antología (pp. 339–354). Colegio de Michoacán.
Tosaka, J. (2008). Vocation théorique du concept de “caractère”: à propos d’un programme. Laval théologique et philosophique, 64(2), 359–376. https://doi.org/10.7202/019504ar
Tosaka, J. (2013). The principle of everydayness and historical time. In K. Kawashima, F. Schaefer, & R. Stolz (Eds.), Tosaka Jun: A critical reader (pp. 3–16). East Asia Program, Cornell University.
Tosaka, J. (2020). Modern idealism in disguise: On the principles for a critique of hermeneutic philosophy. European Journal of Japanese Philosophy, 5, 311–334.
Tosaka, J., & Steffensen, K. N. (2016). Translation of Tosaka Jun’s “The philosophy of the Kyoto School. Comparative and Continental Philosophy, 8(1), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/17570638.2016.1141487
Windelband, W. (1904). Geschichte und Naturwissenschaft. Heitz & Mündel.
Yamada, K. (1990).『戸坂潤とその時代』[Tosaka and his time]. Kyoeishobo.
Zijderveld, A. C. (2006). Rickert’s relevance: The ontological nature and epistemological functions of values. Brill.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. I appreciate their careful reading and attention to detail, which have helped me identify areas that require further clarification and engagement with existing scholarship.
Funding
This work is a result of the KAKEN Project Nr. 22K19959.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
The original online version of this article was revised: Several mistakes introduced during the proof correction process have been corrected.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Wirtz, F. Character and Everydayness: The Bottom-Up Historical Epistemology of Tosaka Jun. Journal East Asian Philosophy (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43493-023-00021-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43493-023-00021-8