成瀬仁蔵の教育思想

その “方針論” と “方法論”

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how in concrete the characteristics of W. James' pragmatism (transl. by Naruse : shugyôshugi) appear in Jinzo Naruse's educational theory.
Naruse was in agreement with James' pragmatism including religion and applied it to education as (1) a principle of formation of the individual; (2) a principle of social cooperation. Naruse's aim was the formation of an autonomous, harmonious personality (useful, active person) who combined religion with scientific creativity and acting ability. Thus he intended to overcome by means of this type of education, based on pragmatism the problems faced by real society at a time of transition from late Meiji to early Taisho, a period of confrontations in Japanese history. What deserves special attention is his original contribution of a learning method by 'impression', 'construction', 'expression' and the formation of religious life (faith), an outcome of a methodology deducted from the objectives of 'pragmatism' as formulated in Naruse's educational theory.
The characteristic points in Naruse's educational theory of 'pragmatism' may be summarized thus : (1) it was a kind of pragmatism based on Christianity; (2) it was applied to the formation of an active individual person advancing toward a religious goal according to the principle (hypothetical postulate) of pragmatism 'truth progresses' and 'theory in action'.