Quest for the Consciousness of Historicity by Kiyoshi Miki – Hermeneutical Anthropology and Philosophy of History

Kiichirô Yagi

Table of Contents

Abstract

Kiyoshi Miki was a prominent philosopher in the early Shōwa era of Japan. Beginning from the application of phenomenological hermeneutics to the texts of Pascal and Marx, he came forth with a philosophy of history, the core of which is occupied by the present consciousness of historicity. Agreeing with the view that modern individuals were trapped in feelings of anxiety, Miki presented a new type of man who was equipped with both pathos and logos. His engagement in both the proletarian culture movement of the 1920s and the philosophical grounding of the New Order Movement of the 1930s failed. His unfinished pursuit of a genuinely Japanese philosophy of history and philosophical anthropology reflected the difficulty of philosophical investigation during that time in Japan.

Keywords

  • anthropology (hermenutical)
  • consciousness (of historicity)
  • fundamental experience
  • Kitarō Nishid
  • marxism (in Japan)
  • philosophy of history

Outline

  1. From Taisho to Showa: The Years in which Kiyoshi Miki Lived
  2. Phenomenological Hermeneutics
  3. Miki’s Engagement with Marxism
  4. From Philosophy of History to Philosophical Anthropology
  5. Philosophical Anthropology – Uncompleted Work

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