Library recycling
This is the book you gave me. It was published in 1992, so exactly 30 years ago. I think I got it from the library about ten years ago.
A collection of short essays. It is written for the general public, so there is no difficult content. Sometimes he talks about familiar topics like a psychologist, and sometimes like a Showa father (laughs).
When I was told that, all I could think was, "That's right," and it was a very fun and interesting read.
I have known the author for a long time, of course, but I only recently started reading his work. Until then, I was indistinguishable from Mr. Masao Kawai, a monkey scholar (primatologist). (Sweat)
The Youtube (sound only) of the author's lecture was very interesting. He speaks in the Kansai dialect, so it was difficult to hear him, but I thought, "There are a lot of interesting people at Kyoto University." Mr. Masao Kawai is an interesting person, and Mr. Tetsuji Atsuji is also a unique person. I feel that the uniqueness and fun is unique to Kansai people, and I think that unique ideas will be born. This book is also interesting because its humor and science coexist.
Mind and Body
The author is a psychologist, and psychology is now being studied as an academic discipline. As far as I remember, in Japan, psychology was regarded as "unscientific" like alchemy. While it is regarded as medical (psychiatry), I feel that many parts remain “non-medical”. I don't think there are any doctors in my town or any of the towns around that do "psychoanalysis". The author contributed to the establishment of the Japan Clinical Psychologist Qualification Association. In Japan, medical care only targets the physical body, and the non-material mind is difficult to treat.
Dividing human existence into mind and body. And, among the workings of the mind, the intellectual aspect has been emphasized, which is characteristic of modern times. The modern mind gave birth to natural science and made many things possible. Therefore, the evaluation of human intellectual functions has become extremely high. There's nothing special about this per se, but if anything goes too far, you're in trouble.
In addition, if the image of preventing the human body from recklessly erupting through intellectual control becomes strangely generalized, even in human society, control will become pervasive, and everyone will fall into a uniform pattern. Momono becomes embedded, and exceptional movements (which actually lead to creation in some cases) are no longer allowed. (P.72)
I think it's typical for the author to say, "There's nothing wrong," and I think that's the reason. Because that separation is the cause of "everything goes too far".
It is the modern way of thinking in Western Europe to consider the mind (subjective) and the body (objective) separately. That is the basic idea of Western science between the observer (I, the mind) and the object of observation (the object). Science should be objective. Everyone's heart is different. You cannot know how other people feel or think. The "right triangle" (the idea) is the same for everyone. But I don't know if they "feel the same" when they see the same flower. People who are color blind (so-called) may see flowers and leaves as the same color.
What we use as a means of communication is language, but language is different from what it expresses. Therefore, what we convey is the word, not its object. How can we convey colors through words (sounds)? For our ears hear words (sounds), but we cannot hear colors. Nor is there any guarantee that the representations produced by words and signs are the same for all people. Therefore, even if we recognize it, we cannot communicate it (Sextus Empericus, Refutation of the Scholars, VII 65-87). ("Lectures on Early Greek Philosophy: Eight Lectures" by Yoshinobu Kusakabe, Koyo Shobo, P.148-149)
These are the words of Gorgias, who is known as a sopist. It's an idea that leads to agnosticism, skepticism, and nihilism. This idea is in direct opposition to Plato's theory of ideas, but it has long been questioned in the West as an ontology.
This is an unsolvable question. This is because thinking about existence as an “object” itself derives from having a subjectivity. If we approach existence (others, objects) as the subject (I), that existence is inevitably "something incomprehensible." You don't know "what is yourself (subjective)", do you? This is because to think about oneself (subjective) is to make oneself (subjective) the “object” of thought. The more I think about it, the deeper I get into it. So, at some point, you either give up thinking "This is what it is" ("I think, therefore I am"), or subdivide and think deeply.
Individuality
The West, which is particular about subjectivity (ego), is particular about the "individual." An individual is a rational human being with individuality and self-reliance. Subjectivity must stand on its own. This is because the other cannot be understood, and subjectivity is an individual existence that does not rely on anything. Being attached to something is not subjective. If a woman is not independent, it is not subjective, it is not individual. So she's not human. No human rights. Children are not independent, so they are not human. Therefore, in the West, discipline of children is strict, isn't it? Parents train their children to be independent. Instead, when they become independent, they are fully respected as human beings. The parent-child relationship becomes a relationship between humans. Rather than being a good person or a bad person, the issue is whether they are independent or not (which is why social welfare is being criticized. I think this has happened since the Renaissance and the modern era. ).
The author believes that people who depend appropriately and who have awareness of dependence and gratitude are independent. Simply separating from others is isolation, not independence. (P.26) Say
. This is a completely different conception of independence from the Western world.
Another condition to be human is that the subject can recognize it as human. How do you know you are human? It means that it has "reason (ratio, λόγος)". Being rational means at least being communicative. A person who speaks a language he does not understand cannot be recognized as a human being. The second is that it is “logical”. If it is logical and verbal, it is human, whether alive or not, in human form or not. The question is whether chimpanzees have language. The question is whether parrots are logical. Robots (AI) are logical and can even have a conversation these days. Is AI human?
Others you don't understand are different from yourself. You cannot be the same as yourself (self-identity). You and I are different, just as apples and oranges are different. That is "individuality".
Just as human existence is divided into mind and body'', the idea that the individual is the final unit that cannot be divided no matter how many times it is divided is the inferred from English words. And it is supported by an attitude that emphasizes "division" and "distinction" of things. (P.268)
Since the method of modern science is based on the premise of "disconnecting" the observer and the phenomenon, the "relationship" is lost. When humans manipulate things, that's fine, but when humans interact with humans, what happens when the "relationship" is lost? (P.239)
Considering this, it seems necessary to think about the essence of individuality and its meaning. Furthermore, even if we try to use the modern Western model of cultivating individuality through free competition in the context of education in the 21st century, it is unlikely that it will be very fruitful. . (P.270)
Christianity, Love
The subject must be independent, but the non-subject As long as subjectivity is established, it exists only for that purpose. What really matters is subjectivity (ego). Trees, grass, mountains, rivers, water, air, pigs, cows, and other human beings all have meaning as long as they are subjective (human beings). Pigs and cows exist to be eaten by humans, so they are killed and eaten. Mountains and rivers exist for human beings, so they must be destroyed or diverted to be more useful. However, only humans (what they recognize) cannot be killed and eaten. Then, it would be nice to cooperate (symbiosis), but subjectivity gets in the way. Because subjectivity must stand on its own. It is also because other subjectivity is accepted as long as the subjectivity is established. Subjectivity does not allow us to depend on other subjectivity. The “war of all against all” (Hobbes) begins.
Beyond pigs and cows, humans exist. But humans cannot be superior or inferior to each other. Therefore, we must say that human beings are equal. But "in the presence of God." Human beings (subjective) are the supreme existence, but by placing "things that are not objects (existence)" on top of it, they can be equal as "the supreme existence in existence". God should not be the object of thought (existence). "Do not question God" and "He who believes (only) will be saved."
And the relationship between human beings must be "love (as God's will)" or "neighbor love".
I could not have 'distracting love' or 'selfless tenderness'. Even though I wanted them, I felt "something artificial" in myself. I have refused to feel "superior" by "volunteering" or "sympathy." There was something about them that felt "false", and I was envious of people who were able to do so, even if it was just an assumption. "Love" becomes "must love", and "kindness" becomes "must be kind" to me.
“Kindness” and “love” within the framework of subjectivity do not truly convince us. Terms such as “love,” “human rights,” “equality,” “the preciousness of life,” and “coexistence” used in modern thought and political slogans are mostly of that kind. There is something that cannot help but arouse feelings of irritation and repulsion in us. Who is unaware of the frustration and frustration that is prevalent in society over those intrusive terms? ("Lectures Heidegger and Western Metaphysics" Kusakabe Yoshinobu, Koyo Shobo, P.77-78)
It was neither society, nor my parents, nor women, but myself (subjectivity)'' that hindered my love. (laughs)
"Dialogue" Tips
Our country has adopted Western culture rapidly and seems to have succeeded. But is it so? Some people who go to extremes say that there is a "material civilization" in the West, but this is utterly absurd. We should know how much the Christian spirit has played in supporting Western culture. However, I am not recommending that Japanese people become Christians. I would like to say that we should think more seriously and worry about the state of mind that corresponds to such a tremendous cultural change. It is through this that we will be able to find a way of thinking that is suitable for the new cultural situation. (P.219-220)
But the author is a scientist. I've only read a few of the author's books, so I don't know what I thought of the author's subjectivity (identity).
Both things and minds are important, but it is not the "age of the mind" where you think of either things or the mind, taking the mind and throwing away things. It would be far more appropriate to think of it as the "Age of the Mind," in order to emphasize the invisible, since the things are too visible. Otherwise, under the catchphrase of "the age of the heart," restorationism and rigid conservatism will emerge. (P.215-216)
The author uses the word "soul". It is not a "soul" or a "spirit". I don't think I understand what that means. It cannot be expressed in sentences (words). It's not myth, folklore, fantasy, or religious. It appears in them, but I think that it is something that transcends them, not as an existence (existence), but as something before the separation of the subject and the object, the existence itself.
The author says about cultural anthropology.
The 'universal' facts that the observer saw outside the phenomenon revealed only the unusual facts. On the other hand, what one researcher has found through his "individuality" by throwing his own existence into it has a splendid "universal" meaning. If you bring up the idea of universality that can be obtained by excluding the individual and universality that can be obtained through the individual, you will notice that the latter often leads to "human knowledge." (P.241)
Although the description is strictly based on the standpoint of "intelligence (knowledge, science)," it is written that oneself (subjectivity) is thrown into the subject. .
I (human beings?), who have become subjective, cannot abandon my subjectivity (ego). I am currently struggling to see if I can "throw it into an object" while I have an ``I'' that cannot be discarded.