Humanistic education in East Asia. With special reference to the work of Ogyu Sorai and Motoori Norinaga

Abstract

The term can adopt a range of meanings, varying with the interpretation of or human. For this investigation, humanistic education refers to education that emphasizes humanistic studies (studia humanitatis) such as language, literature, and history, which aims to make a human being truly human. The basic insight of this education is that, as language is an essential characteristic of humanity, its care and cultivation is crucial in education. This original meaning of humanistic education was developed during the Renaissance. Despite this narrow definition of humanistic education, a similar trend can be found in East Asian traditions, especially in the original teachings of Confucius. In this article, the author first discusses the humanistic features of the original Confucian thoughts, as expressed in his Analects (Chapter 1). Second, he considers the significance of a Japanese Confucian scholar, Ogyu Sorai, who developed the Japanese humanistic interpretation of Confucian texts (Chapter 2). This is followed by an examination of the central thoughts of Motoori Norinaga, who transplanted Sorai's interpretation into the study of classical Japanese literature (Chapter 3). Finally, I consider future dimensions of East Asian humanism by referring to both Sorai and Norinaga (Chapter 4). (DIPF/Orig.)