In this paper, I consider the use of Buddhist concepts in Tetsurō Watsuji’s ethicsrelated works. In particular, I focus on the relationship between Watsuji’s ethics and his interpretation of concepts such as emptiness and negative movement, which Watsuji emphasized in interpreting Buddhism in his Buddhist research books, such as Practical Philosophy of Primitive Buddhism; he later used these concepts in his main works, Ethics and Ethics as a Study of Humans. In his Buddhist interpretations, Watsuji was strongly influenced by the Hegel dialectic. In this paper, I outline these concepts based on Watsuji’s Buddhist writings and consider the differences between his position and the Hegel dialectic according to his ethical writings.
One conclusion of this paper is as follows. Watsuji criticized the Absolute Spirit, which is the end point of the Hegel dialectic. Watsuji thought that human irrationality cannot be explained from the standpoint of this idea. Instead, Watsuji put emptiness at the root of his human system; what he needed at that time was the Dharma system of Abhidharma Buddhism.
