The Renewal of Tradition in the Political Thought of Early Modern Japan: The Confucian Concept of Dao and the Question of the Origin of Social Order in Ogyū Sorai’s Theory

Abstract

In Japan’s early modern period, Confucian philosophy was considered as a pattern of political discourse. Hence, many Japanese thinkers of the time were involved into solving political problems. The paper deals with the theory of social order developed by Ogyū Sorai (1666–1728), a major Confucian philosopher and the most progressive thinker of the time, who criticized modern schools for the practical incompetence of their ideas. Sorai’s theory unfolded around the idea of the Way of Early Kings, which he saw as a complex of principles that formed the foundation of social order. The Confucian concept of Dao is fundamental for this idea, the ethical interpretation of which was proposed by Sorai’s contemporaries, while Sorai considered the Way as a political category. The paper begins with a brief introduction to the role that Confucian thought played in the forming of the language of political discourse in Japan. Further, the author discusses Sorai’s ideas on the early kings and the Way created by them, as well as on social order, the role of the ruler, and human nature. The author pays special attention to Sorai’s theory of language that connects his lexicographic and political works. The fact is that since Sorai’s attention to the Way was grounded on his methodology, he believed that careful work with the language was the way to proper government and social order. The article concludes with an analysis of the way Sorai theorized the concept of Dao. On one hand, in his practical precepts, Sorai offered a pragmatic and politically-problematized interpretation of Dao. On the other hand, in his ideas on Heaven, gods, and spirits, Sorai offered a metaphysical perspective of Dao that is characterized with concerns for ontological and epistemological questions. As a result, in order to point out the significance of Sorai’s utilitarian and disenchanting world ideas since they were an important step in the history of Japanese philosophy that preceded modernity, the author attempts to describe Ogyū Sorai’s logic of social order based on both the pragmatical and metaphysical perspectives of his theory.