This paper examines the concept of "subject" in Masaaki Kosaka's thought, focusing in particular on his understanding of "history." Kosaka is one of the famous philosophers belonging to the "Kyoto School." He studied the works of Kant under Kitaro Nishida and Hajime Tanabe. Especially until the end of the pacific war, Kosaka's major interest lay in the conception of "subject" as it existed in the historical world. The most famous discussion on this topic is the philosophical conference entitled "The Situation of Japan in the World History" (sekaishi-teki tachiba to nihon), which was organized by chuo-koron in 1941. In the conference, Kosaka and other members of the Kyoto School discussed how Japan should manage its affairs during the wartime. They also emphasized the importance of Japan's role in creating the new world and its history.
With his focus on pedagogy, Kosaka is well known as the chief editor of the political statement "The Ideal Image of Japanese" (kitai-sareru ningen-zou), published in 1966 by the Central Council of Education. Given that the paper discussed the ideal notions of humanity and education, especially referring to how people should live as good Japanese citizens, previous studies have criticized Kosaka's brand of nationalism. Against this backdrop, the current paper attempts to explain why his thought is regarded as "nationalistic" by exploring his first production entitled "The Historical World" (rekishi-teki sekai) (1937). This study focuses on the relationship between the thoughts of his mentor Nishida and those of his own. Comparing their conceptions of "subject," this paper reconsiders Kosaka's ideas about history and subjectivity and reconstructs his educational thoughts through the logic of historical subject.

論文