was a Japanese

philosopher of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

. Yuasa is known for his works on the theory of the body in Western and Asian philosophy and for his teaching. He has been referred to as "one of the most provocative and far-reaching" among Japan's contemporary philosophers.

Early life and education

Yasuo Yuasa studied ethics under

Watsuji Tetsuro was a Japanese historian and moral philosopher. Early life Watsuji was born in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture to a physician. During his youth he enjoyed poetry and had a passion for Western literature. For a short time he was the coeditor of a lite ...

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. He later also studied

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

with Motoyama Hiroshi, and these studies influenced his philosophical views.Erin McCarthy: ''Yuasa Yasuo (1925–2001): A retrospective of his life and work''
first page view

Career

In his early years Yuasa took up a position as assistant in the Ethics Department at the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. His places of employment include Yamanashi University,

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

, the

University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...

and

Obirin University ''Ōbirin daigaku'' -- note that "Ōbirin" is written in the kanji for "beautiful cherry orchard". is a private university in Machida, Tokyo, Japan. The university was founded by Yasuzo Shimizu. Its name is derived from that of pastor and phi ...

Work

Much of his work, particularly since the end of the 1970s, has focused on theories of the body in Asian and Western philosophy, in religion and in medicine. He had particular interest in the mind-body problem, also developing his own model of mind-body function. The basis of Yuasa's work lies in both Eastern and Western traditions. He studied the works of

Kitaro Nishida was a Japanese moral philosopher, philosopher of mathematics and science, and religious scholar. He was the founder of what has been called the Kyoto School of philosophy. He graduated from the University of Tokyo during the Meiji period in 1 ...

, of his teacher Tetsuro Watsuji, of

Kiyoshi Miki was a Japanese philosopher, literary critic, scholar and university professor. He was an esteemed student of Nishida Kitarō and a prominent member of the Kyoto School. Miki was a prolific academic and social critic of his time. He also had ...

and of

Hajime Tanabe was a Japanese philosopher of science, particularly of mathematics and physics. In 1947 he became a member of the Japan Academy, and in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit. Tanabe was a key member of what has become known in the Wes ...

;Boutry-Stadelmann, B.
Yuasa Yasuo's Theory of the Body
/ref> he also took into consideration Eastern meditation practices such as

zen meditation ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

and

, the Eastern notion of the meridians of the body, as well as Western

depth psychology Depth psychology (from the German term ''Tiefenpsychologie'') refers to the practice and research of the science of the unconscious, covering both psychoanalysis and psychology. It is also defined as the psychological theory that explores the rela ...

, in particular the

Jungian Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...

approach.Chikako Ozawa–De Silva: ''Beyond the body/mind? Japanese contemporary thinkers on alternative sociologies of the body'', Body & Society, 2002 Sage Publications, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 21–38
full text
Yuasa looks at Descartes' dualism, and the contrasting philosophies of

idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...

with focus on the mind (spirit) and

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

with focus on the body (matter), and re-evaluates them in the light of Eastern non-dualistic thinking. True to Eastern tradition, he emphasizes that there exists no clear distinction between body and mind. While this is mainly an Eastern point of view, Yuasa acknowledged that similar thoughts have been expressed also by some Western thinkers, for example

Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest an ...

. Yasuo goes further than existing philosophical tradition in postulating that the unity of body and mind is not a natural state or innate relationship, but rather a state to be achieved.Ornello Corazza
Rethinking embodiment: A Japanese contemporary perspective. A workshop in commemoration of Professor Yasuo Yuasa (1925–2005)
Center for the Study of Japanese Religions, CSJR Newsletter, January 2007, No. 14/15 (with an account by Shigenori Nagatomo of Yuasa's ''Theory of the Body'' He points out the crucial role of self-cultivation for achieving such 'oneness of body–mind'. Expressed in simplified terms, Yuasa's scheme of the body consists in four systems: sensory-motor awareness (

somesthesis In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

, much like the sensory-motor apparatus of

Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

or the sensory-motor circuit of Merleau-Ponty), kinaesthetic awareness ( kinesthesis), emotion-instinct (governing the

autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system (ANS), formerly referred to as the vegetative nervous system, is a division of the peripheral nervous system that supplies viscera, internal organs, smooth muscle and glands. The autonomic nervous system is a control ...

) and an unconscious 'quasi-body' (exemplified in the ki-energy flow through the body's meridians). Yasuo distinguishes ''bright consciousness'' and ''dark consciousness'', comparing the latter to the Western idea of the

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

. It has been pointed out that his concept of ''dark consciousness'' is more similar to the notion of subconsciousness of

Frederic W. H. Myers Frederic William Henry Myers (6 February 1843 – 17 January 1901) was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" w ...

and

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

than to

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

's concept of the unconscious.G. William Barnard: ''Living Consciousness: The Metaphysical Vision of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

'' Yuasa has written numerous books on

Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

psychoanalytic theory Psychoanalytic theory is the theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology. First laid out by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th century, psyc ...

Asian philosophy Eastern philosophy or Asian philosophy includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philosophy; which are dominant in East Asia, a ...

and on the cultural history of Japan. He has authored more than 50 books and over 300 articles.

Writings

English translations

* Yasuo Yuasa: ''Overcoming Modernity:

Synchronicity Synchronicity (german: Synchronizität) is a concept first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl G. Jung "to describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection." In contemporary research, synchronicity ...

and Image-Thinking'' (translated by Shigenori Nagatomo and John W.M. Krummel, with an introduction by Shigenori Nagatomo), State University of New York Press, 2008, * Yasuo Yuasa: ''The Body, Self-Cultivation, and Ki-Energy'' (translated by Shigenori Nagatomo and Monte S. Hull), 1993, State University of New York Press, * David Edward Shaner, Shigenori Nagatomo, Yasuo Yuasa: ''Science and Comparative Philosophy: Introducing Yuasa Yasuo'', Brill Academic, 1989, * Yasuo Yuasa: ''The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body Theory'' (translated by Shigenori Nagatomo and Thomas P. Kasulis), State University of New York Press, 1987,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuasa, Yasuo 1925 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Japanese philosophers Academic staff of Osaka University Academic staff of the University of Tsukuba University of Tokyo alumni Philosophers of religion Philosophers of mind Continental philosophers