Creative Imagination, Justice, and Nothingness: Reflections on the “Force” in the Works of Karatani Kōjin and Nakamura Yūjiro

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Abstract This paper compares the ideas of Japanese philosophers Karatani Kōjin1 (1941–) and Nakamura Yūjirō (1925–2017) on the role of “force” in shaping imagination. This idea of “force” will be examined. Notably, Karatani criticized Nakamura for trying to combine the idea of the “place of nothingness” initially introduced by Nishida Kitarō with the distinctive logic of the Japanese language, which seemed to be insular nationalism. However, this paper argues that we can shed new light on their differences regarding imagination and the idea of “force.” “Force” is the repressed impersonal that returns to the social reality, requiring us to go beyond the existing code of order. Indeed, Nakamura and Karatani explore the possibility of reconstructing the power of imagination after the end of the “grand narrative” and in the postmodern age. This paper emphasizes the role of “nothingness” and different approaches to reformulating it into the field of “force,” finding a new horizon of justice along the way. In doing so, this paper will argue that while Nakamura developed his philosophy of creative imagination in the field of “force” as the surrounding environment, Karatani limited “force” to the plane of social exchange. This comparative view can be more interactive in the age of economic and climate risks if we focus more on the philosophical genealogy of “nothingness.”