Abstract
Natsume Soseki who is well known as a novelist was also the prominent intellectual. Although he reflected on “Civilization and Enlightenment” his criticism has not been previously been dealt with in terms of sociology. The purpose of this paper is to reconsider Soseki’s ethical individualism in terms of sociology. He recognized that the growth of individualism was an inevitable concomitant of the expansion of the division of labour. But, “the struggle for survival” in the economic world turned individuals into the “selfish” and the “enervated”. Soseki’s formation of “ethical individualism” was an attempt to reconcile “individualism” with “public morality”. Comparing Soseki’s thought to that of Emile Durkheim we can see that Soseki’s “ethical individualism” was a pioneering attempt at a social philosophy for modern Japan.
