It is well-known that Tokugawa Confucianism was formed through various theoretical struggles with Neo-Confucianism. Therefore in order to clarify the structure and specific character of the educational thought in Tokugawa Confucianism, it is very important to understand the differences between Neo-Confucianism and Tokugawa Confucianism. In this article I turn my attention especially to the thoughts of Ito Jinsai who was the first to try and escape the dominance of the Neo-Confucianist mode of thinking in Tokugawa intellectual history. My aim is to clarify the structure and specific character of the idea of "the mind" in Jinsai's thought, by comparing it with the idea as it is expressed in Neo-Confucianism. Approximately speaking, Jinsai reconsidered the theory of "mind" in Neo-Confucianism in three theoretical stages. First, he eschewed the metaphysical theories of "principle" and "generative force" in Neo-Confucianism, and returned the notion of "the mind" to the empirical world of the common people. Therefore, he regarded "the mind" as a kind of disposition that contains both goodness and badness, whereas Neo-Confucianism regarded the substance of "the mind" as absolutely good. Second, Jinsai distinguished "the mind" from "human nature" and "human feelings", whereas Neo-Confucianism considered that "the mind" unifies "human nature" with "human feelings". He considered that "the mind" means the disposition towards certain activities, whereas "human nature" means the disposition towards certain potentialities; equally "the mind" refers to the disposition towards thinking and planning, whereas "human feelings" refers to the disposition towards not thinking and not planning. Third, Jinsai recognized that "the mind" is surely the starting point for the movement towards moral virtue; however, it is too faint if it is not developed. Therefore, he emphasized the idea that "the mind" should be expanded through the study of the sage Confucius' teachings. Thus, Jinsai's theory of "the mind" was formulated to be easy to understand and familiar to the common people. And in this it contrasted markedly with the theories of Neo-Confucianism, which had very abstract and metaphysical tendencies.
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