Watsuji Tetsurō and the philosophy of “Being-in-Betweenness”

Context: Japanese philosopher Watsuji Tetsurō is being widely revisited in contemporary philosophy for offering a non-Western ethical framework that challenges individualistic notions of the self.

About Watsuji Tetsurō and the philosophy of “Being-in-Betweenness”:

Who he was?

• Watsuji Tetsurō (1889–1960) was a leading Japanese philosopher and ethicist of the 20th century.
• He was among the earliest Japanese scholars to critically engage with Western existentialism, writing on Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Hegel.
• His major works include Fūdo (Climate and Culture) and Rinrigaku (Ethics), which laid the foundation of Japanese environmental and relational ethics.

Core philosophy:

1. Critique of the Western self:
   • Watsuji rejected the Western idea of the atomised, autonomous individual.
   • He argued that Western ethics universalised a culturally specific European subject, often ignoring social, cultural, and ecological embeddedness.
2. Concept of ‘Ningen’:
   • Humans are not isolated individuals but beings of “betweenness” (aida) — constituted through relationships with others, society, history, and nature.
   • The self is simultaneously individual and collective, singular and plural.
3. Emptiness and self-negation:
   • Drawing from Mahayana Buddhism, Watsuji emphasised emptiness (śūnyatā) — the absence of a fixed essence.
   • Ethical life requires self-negation, allowing space for others to exist and flourish.
4. Ethics as lived practice (Rinrigaku)
   • Ethics is not abstract moral law but the study of how humans live relationally.
   • Moral values emerge from concrete social practices, traditions, climate, and shared life.
5. Human–Nature relationship (Fūdo)
   • Humans and environment are co-constitutive.
   • Climate, geography, and culture shape ethical life — a precursor to environmental ethics.

Relevance in the modern world:

• Environmental crisis: Counters anthropocentrism by stressing human embeddedness in nature.
• Mental health & alienation: Offers a relational view of self, opposing hyper-individualism.
• Decolonial philosophy: Challenges Western universalism and validates plural ethical traditions.
• Social ethics: Emphasises community, compassion, and mutual responsibility over egoism.

Relevance in UPSC Examination Syllabus:

• GS Paper IV – Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

• • Ethics and Human Interface: Relational self vs individualistic self
  • Moral Thinkers: Non-Western ethical frameworks
  • Values: Compassion, self-restraint, empathy, social responsibility
  • Applied ethics: Environmental ethics, community-centric governance

• Essay Paper:

• • Themes like:
    1. “Man is a social being”
    2. “Development without ecological harmony is self-defeating”
    3. “Ethics rooted in culture rather than abstraction”