日本の思想

by Masao Maruyama, 丸山 真男

現代日本の思想が当面する問題は何か。その日本的特質はどこにあり、何に由来するものなのか。日本人の内面生活における思想の入りこみかた、それらの相互関係を構造的な視角から追究していくことによって、新しい時代の思想を創造するために、いかなる方法意識が必要であるかを問う。日本の思想のありかたを浮き彫りにした文明論的考察。

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, Japanese Literature, Japan

192 pages, Paperback

Published November 20, 1961

Reviews

[Commie Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why the last chapter is included in high school textbook. A very passionate and persuasive call for active participation in politics, which definitely can appeal to a large audience. Especially if you consider the context in which this book (or more specifically these essays, which were originally speeches) was written, which was around the end of the 50s and beginning of the 60s, a time when Japan was in the process of introspection and was beginning to build its democracy, these essays were well argued and served the purpose of advocating for democratization of the whole society.
Some interesting ideas that stay true even to this day are democracy as a process (meaning that democracy is based on active political participation of the citizens), the danger of deifying ideologies (meaning that there is no such thing as the Truth, everything requires critical thinking, and don't be fooled by political rhetoric no matter how good it sounded), the importance of communication among different groups in society (meaning info exchange, respect for different people from different background and their experiences and knowledges are crucial for a healthy democracy).
But honestly the book simplifies or ignores a lot of problem, such as elements which discourage people from participating in politics like institutionalized discrimination, conflicts among different social groups, education that contributes to political complacency, and horrible work-life balance for the common individual that leaves them almost no time to think outside of their more-than-packed daily schedule; or the problems inherent in a representative democracy. Basically the book emphasized that the responsibility of building and keeping democracy falls on the shoulder of the individual, while didn't really talk about the responsibility (and possible negative intervention) of social institutions in a democratic system. Not to mention the obvious Euro-Americentric tone of the book, which annoyed me sometimes. For example, he brought up US media during the 50s as an example of how social institutions should contribute to democracy. Yeah right if you consider McCarthyism and FBI's manipulation the peak of democracy.
Despite all that, I think it makes sense that these essays were structured in that way, because they were speeches that served to persuade common people to believe that their opinions matter and that they need to participate in politics to protect their own rights. Within such a framework, I think Maruyama had done a terrific job at articulating his arguments.
And the book was actually kinda hilarious, because you can tell from the writing style that Maruyama was salty as hell, and he didn't hold back at grilling people he thought were simpleminded, AT ALL.
And lastly, I think Maruyama, if he was still alived, would be very disappointed at the current situation in Japan. None of which he had hoped for is being exercised now.

[Shelby · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid 3.5 (ch.4 was a bit random lol)

[Vietzsche · Rating 4 out of 5]

近代欧洲政治哲学理论在日本如同不同世代的地质层叠加在学术界的场域之上，日本学者对西欧理论的接受与实践也在这套松散的平面之间迅速跳跃转向。天皇制简直是命运的必然。

[WaldenOgre · Rating 3 out of 5]

诚如丸山真男在后记中所言，驱使他写这本书的动机是“熬过战争体验之后的一个日本人的自我批判”，他想要探究日本社会从上至下之所以会如此不加抗拒地拥抱军国主义的原因何在。

虽然不乏精辟的见解，虽然丸山也解释了作为本书主体的《日本的思想》一文事出有因的创作背景，但体量如此之小的一篇文章撑不起这么大的一个标题，确是不争的事实。况且，丸山关注的问题，主要集中于战前和战后日本的思想纷争，在国别和年代上都有相当的局限性。因此在经过时间和距离的消磨后，它的传世价值难免也是要打折扣的。

另一个问题则和翻译有关。或许是本书的译者们浸淫日本文化颇深的关系，有些遣词造句没有很好地转换成自然的中文表达。此外，还有不少专有名词都源自生造硬搬，对阅读理解造成了不小的障碍，实在是值得商榷了。