2015 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 2-10
Yuasa Yasuo's inquiry into Eastern philosophy is seeking to formulate a new perspective from which to rethink Western philosophy fundamentally. This kind of philosophical undertaking is shared by many modern Japanese philosophers like Nishida Kitaro and Watsuji Tetsuro. However, Yuasa also had his own and unique concerns. One can find these in his many books and articles on modern Japanese philosophy, especially, in his fearless criticism of former Japanese philosophers. In this paper, the author examines Yuasa's book The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory in regards to interpretation and criticism of Nishida's philosophy and argues that although these two philosophers have many shared interests they also have some decidedly different ideas. For example, Yuasa distinguishes the realm of ordinary experience from that of religious experience in order to scrutinize how one can transit from the former to the latter by bodily religious practice. In contrast to Yuasa's distinction, Nishida focuses on the overlapping of these two realms. Yuasa criticizes Nishida's logic and his queries into the logical structure of above-mentioned overlapping, and employs psychological methods instead. Comparing these two thinkers offers some hints in regards to how we can rethink 'philosophy' and 'religion' in the light of Eastern philosophy and religion.
