Individual dignity in modern Japanese thought : the evolution of the concept of Jinkaku in moral and educational discourse
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Individual dignity in modern Japanese thought : the evolution of the concept of Jinkaku in moral and educational discourse
(Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies, no. 35)
Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, c2001
- : cloth
Available at 33 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 231-252) and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The American draft of the Japanese Constitution included an article declaring that each individual was entitled to respect simply by virtue of being a human being. The Japanese, however, interpreted this concept as "respect for jinkaku (moral character)."Jinkaku was a strongly elitist concept that gradually acquired more egalitarian meanings during the Taisho period. Yet the hierarchical connotations were still present when the term was used to interpret "individual dignity" in the Constitution and was later made the foundation of postwar Japanese education. As Japanese discourse began to embrace the American idea that all people are worthy of respect just because they are human beings, and thus their fundamental rights must be protected, it did not adopt the American emphasis on protecting individual rights against the government. Consonant with the ideas embodied in the Constitution, the Japanese teach that government and the people are jointly responsible for bringing about a fair and just society for all. Textbooks thus promote a communitarian rather than individualistic view of democracy.Individual Dignity in Modern Japanese Thought is important for scholars of modern Japanese intellectual history and Japanese democracy, for political scientists interested in political socialization, and for scholars of comparative history, law, politics, and education.
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