Criticism of The Kyoto School
Today, there is a great deal of critical research into the school's role prior to and during the Second World War. Hajime Tanabe bears the greatest brunt of the criticism for bringing his work on the "Logic of Species" into Japanese politics, which was used to buttress the militarist project to formulate imperialist ideology and propaganda. Tanabe's notion is that the logical category of "species" and nation are equivalent, and each nation or "species" provides a fundamental set of characteristics which define and determine the lives and outlooks of those who participate in it.
Some western scholars think this criticism of the Kyoto School is inaccurate and spurious. They have shown that Tanabe did not support the war effort and that Nishitani tried to organize intellectuals to question and criticize the growing militarism of the Tojo junta. This scholarly work attempts to provide an historical understanding of these thinkers' work in terms of opposition to western colonial imperialism at the same as the thinkers opposed fascist reactionary politics.
Read more about this topic: Kyoto School
Famous quotes containing the words criticism of, criticism and/or school:
“I, with other Americans, have perhaps unduly resented the stream of criticism of American life ... more particularly have I resented the sneers at Main Street. For I have known that in the cottages that lay behind the street rested the strength of our national character.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“Homoeopathy is insignificant as an art of healing, but of great value as criticism on the hygeia or medical practice of the time.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I’m tired of playing worn-out depressing ladies in frayed bathrobes. I’m going to get a new hairdo and look terrific and go back to school and even if nobody notices, I’m going to be the most self-fulfilled lady on the block.”
—Joanne Woodward (b. 1930)