著者

雨田 英一 Eiichi Ameda

出版者

学習院大学東洋文化研究所

雑誌

東洋文化研究 = Journal of Asian cultures (ISSN:13449850)

巻号頁・発行日

no.2, pp.385-418, 2000-03-31

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Fukuzawa Yukichi福沢諭吉was a very enthusiastic nationalist in modern Japan. At the salne time, he absolutely insisted that all freedoms and rights be guaranteed to a11 individuals. It was a persistent purpose throughout his work to show how to achieve both individual and national independence without contradiction. He claimed that it depended upon a sweeping transformation of the Japanese people, and that the chief agenda for bringing about that transformation was not only education, but also race improvement. Some may claim that there was logically an inherent contradiction in his statements,1eading him into an intellectual dilemma, since race improvement is contrary to the inalienable rights of mankind that he had defended. However, in Fukuzawa’s view, there was no contradiction; in fact, we cannot show that he ever faced such a dilemma. The reason why is explained in the present article, which deals with some basic elements of Fukuzawa’s thought.