The philosophical studies of Yamaguchi University

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The philosophical studies of Yamaguchi University Volume 27
published_at 2020-03-26

The reason why Nishida did not tell about the transition from ethics to religion in “An inquiry into the good”

何故西田は『善の研究』において道徳から宗教への移行を語らなかったのか
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It looks as if An Inquiry into the Good had a gap between its 3rd book “the Good” and 4th book “Religion.” At the end of the 3rd book, the writer says that the perfect good deed can be done and we have to do it. This is the ultimate of “Ethics” and at the same that of “Religion” and “Art.” Thus we donʼt have to change over from “Ethics” to “Religion.” On the other hand, at the beginning of the 4th book, the writer says that the great life demands to know that we are limited and relative beings and that the end of “Ethics” is “Religion.” This essay makes it clear that this construction of “An Inquiry into the Good” is the inevitable conclusion of The 1st Draft on Ethics(1904-1905), The 2nd Draft on Ethics (1905-1906) and Fragments on Pure Experience. That is, human beings aim at the perfect good deed but fail. Through this failure, demands for religion suddenly occur inside us. The summit of these demands is nothing but the ultimate “Ethics”, “Religion” and “Art.”