It is widely known that Nishida examined the problem of action in a concrete historical reality in his later philosophy. However, little research had been done focusing on the problem of intention and action in Nishida’s middle period works. After he arrived at the idea of‘Basho’(場所), Nishida developed a philosophical system of universals. In developing this system, Nishida adopts the terms noesis and noema from Husserl’s theory of intentionality; giving these terms important roles in describing the ordered relations among universals. Nishida, however, criticizes Husserl’s theory of intentionality and argues that the internal determination of intentional action is based on self-awareness by analyzing the temporal nature of expressive activity. He concludes that the ground of intentionality is volitional self-awareness. Despite critiquing Husserl, Nishida’s practical philosophy in his middle period, which is argued from the standpoint of the development of self-awareness, has a problem in that it does not focus on actions in the real world. In this paper, I will investigate the practical philosophy in Nishida’s middle period and make it clear how it interacts with Nishida’s system of self-aware universals. Through this research, I hope to shed light upon the characteristics of Nishida's practical philosophy and provide a means to compare his middle and later thought.
