Ogyu Sorai's Philosophical Masterworks: The Bendo and Benmei

John A. Tucker

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2006

Ogyu Sorai's Philosophical Masterworks

The Bendo and Benmei

John A. Tucker

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824841386

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Contents

About this book

Ogyû Sorai (1666–1728) was one of the greatest philosophers of early modern Japan. This volume, a monumental work of scholarship, offers for the first time in any Western language unabridged and fully annotated translations of Sorai’s masterpieces. The Bendô (Distinguishing the Way) and Benmei (Distinguishing Names) are works of political philosophy that define the theoretical foundation for a leadership exercising total power, the best remedy, in Sorai’s view, for a regime in crisis. The translations are based on the 1740 (Genbun 5) woodblock edition, the first major edition of these seminal texts published during the Tokugawa period.

In his commentary, John Tucker situates the Bendô and Benmei in relation to Neo-Confucianism via what is known as "philosophical lexicography." This genre, which links Sorai’s thinking with Neo-Confucianism, is traced to the early-thirteenth-century Song dynasty text the Xingli ziyi (The Meanings of Neo-Confucian Terms) by Chen Beixi (1159–1223). Although Sorai was an unrelenting critic the Neo-Confucian formulations of the great Song synthesizer Zhu Xi (1130–1200), his thinking remained, due to its genre, methodology, and conceptual repertory, essentially a radical revision of Neo-Confucian discourse. Tucker’s introduction also examines the reception of Sorai’s two Ben during the remainder of the Tokugawa, calling attention to radical tendencies in later developments of Sorai’s thought as well as to the increasingly scathing critiques of his "Chinese" approach to philosophy, language, and politics. Finally, it traces the vicissitudes of the two Ben in modern Japanese intellectual history and their role in the formation of the ideas of Meiji intellectuals such as Nishi Amane (1829–1897) and Kato Hiroyuki (1836–1916).

As before, however, Sorai came under attack—this time for his supposed irreverence toward the throne, the Japanese people, and the imperial nation-state. Though an unpopular philosophy in early twentieth-century Japan, in the postwar years Sorai’s thought was interpreted (by Maruyama Masao and others) as an important modernizing force. While it critiques such ideologically grounded attempts to cast Sorai’s Bendô and Benmei as theoretical contributions to political modernization, Tucker’s study nevertheless acknowledges that Sorai’s masterworks, in their concern for language analysis as the way to solve philosophical problems, share significant common ground with the analytic approach to philosophy pioneered by various twentieth-century Anglo-American philosophers.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Series Editor’s Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction to the Bendò and Benmei
Chapter One: The Bendo¯ and Benmei as Philosophical Dictionaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Chapter Two: The Fate of Kobunjigaku in Tokugawa Japan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
Chapter Three: Sorai in Modern Intellectual History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
Distinguishing the Way (Bendò)
The Bendö Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Distinguishing Names (Benmei)
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
1. The Way Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	172
2. Virtue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
3. Humaneness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
4. Wisdom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
5. The Sages Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
6. The Rites Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	204
7. Ritual Principles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
8. Filial Piety and Brotherly Deference Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
9. Loyalty and Trustworthiness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
10. Empathy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
11. Sincerity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
12. Respectfulness, Reverence, and Carefulness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
13. Humility, Deference, Obedience, and Not Boasting Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
14. Courage, Martial Arts, Strength, and Firmness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	240
15. Purity, Scrupulousness, and Having No Desires Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
16. Regulations and Frugality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	244
17. Impartiality, Correctness, and Straightforwardness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	246
18. The Mean, Harmony, and Rectitude Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	250
19. Goodness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	256
20. Originating, Flourishing, Advantageous, and Firm Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
21. Heaven, Fate, Lord-on-high, and Ghosts and Spirits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
22. Human Nature, Human Feelings, and Capabilities Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	280
23. Mind, Purpose, and Ideas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
24. Thoughts, Plans, and Calculations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	294
25. Rational Principle, Generative Force, and Human Desires Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295
26. Yin, Yang, and the Five Processes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
27. The Five Constants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	308
28. Ultimate Standards Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
29. Learning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	312
30. Culture and Refinement, Substance and Function, and Roots and Branches Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	322
31. The Standard and Expediency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
32. Things Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
33. Princes and Commoners Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333
34. True Kings and Hegemons Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	334
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	339
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	449
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	463

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 576

eBook

Published: January 31, 2006
ISBN: 9780824841386