Ethics and Religious Consciousness in the Philosophy of Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903)

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of the correlation between ethics and religious consciousness in the philosophy of the Japanese scholar, philosopher and publicist Kiyozawa Manshi (1863–1903). Analyzing various ethical systems (utilitarianism, intuitionism, rigorism and rationalism), in the discourse about what is the primary one: public morality or religious consciousness, he comes to the conclusion that the structure of individual and social life should be based primarily on the principles of spirituality (seishinshugi). To the individual following only ethical norms without realizing his spiritual nature seems difficult, and sometimes simply impossible. Spirituality itself, according to Kiyozawa Manshi, has a clearly expressed Buddhist meaning: it is the absolute transcendental truth of the Buddha Amida Tathagata, the infinite (mugen) principle that underlies everything and can determine ethical norms. The philosophical views of Kiyozawa Manshi are of special interest, demonstrating a situation, influenced by the change of socio-political conditions, ethics and religious preferences in society where, in response, the most educated representatives sought to establish their own standards of morality and spirituality, in which religion played a formative role.