Historyzm w myśli Ogyū Soraia

Abstract

The article examines the thought of the Japanese Confucian philosopher Ogyū Sorai, asking whether any traces of historicism can be found in his ideas. Ogyū Sorai was a prominent early 17th-century thinker, whose considerable role in the development of Japan’s modern philosophical tradition is widely known, mostly because of how he criticized the dominant node of Neo-Confucianism that supported the Tokugawa political system. Contrary to the most common trends in analyzing Ogyū Sorai, the author focuses neither on the political or strictly philosophical aspect of his thinking, but rather on his views regarding the past and its role in shaping the future. While discussing the Japanese philosopher’s major works, such as Benmei, Bendō, and Sorai-sensei tōmonsho, the author comes to the conclusion that a historicist approach toward the flow of time can be clearly seen in Sorai’s thinking. His philosophy displays no ahistoricism nor cyclical understanding of time. This creates a strong case for further research on how Sorai’s thought facilitated the development of ideas on progress and modernization in the late Edo period of Japanese history.