Collected Philosophical Essays of Watsuji

Watsuji Tetsurō (1889-1960) is Japan’s foremost ethical philosopher. These essays, expertly translated by native English and Japanese speakers, offer the first English translation of many of Watsuji’s key texts including the final, and perhaps most important, chapter of Climate: A Philosophical Consideration (1962), Watsuji’s magnum opus. The selected translations are organised around three key themes: climate, ethics and nationality. Editorial introductions to each chapter construct a narrative account of Watsuji’s key concepts, putting the translations into context with Watsuji’s wider ideas. This collection positions Watsuji as a major world philosopher whose ideas are indispensable for thinking through environmental philosophy, global ethics and comparative philosophy in the twenty-first century.

Kyle Michael James Shuttleworth is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Akita International University in Japan. He has previously worked at Japan Women’s University, Ritsumeikan Asian Pacific University, and Rikkyo University. His research focuses on contemporary conceptions of the good life, environmental issues, and the ethical thought of Watsuji Tetsurō. He previously received a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) to research the environmental issue of anthropocentrism. His publications include the monograph The History and Ethics of Authenticity (2020), the translation of Watsuji Tetsurō’s memories of Natsume Sōseki: “Until I met Sōseki” and “Sōseki’s Character” in Journal of East Asian Philosophy (2025), Watsuji Tetsurō’s Attempt at an Autobiography (2026) Hawaii University Press, and the research articles ‘Beyond Anthropocentrism: A Watsujian Ecological Ethic’ in Asian Philosophy (2025), and ‘Rethinking The Replacement of Physicians with AI’ in American Philosophical Quarterly (2025). Takeshi Morisato is Lecturer of Non-Western Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is a specialist in Japanese and World Philosophies. He is editor of the European Journal of Japanese Philosophy and associate editor of the Journal of East Asian Philosophy. He is regional editor of the Bloomsbury Introduction to World Philosophies series. He is the author of Tanabe Hajime and the Kyoto School: Self, World and Knowledge (Bloomsbury, 2021) and Faith and Reason in Continental and Japanese Philosophy: Reading Tanabe Hajime and William Desmond (Bloomsbury, 2019). He is co-editor of The Dialectic of Absolute Nothingness: The Legacy of German Philosophy in the Kyoto School (Cornell University Press, 2023), Vanishing Subjectivity: Flower, Shame, and Direct Cultivation in Asian Philosophies (Mimesis International, 2021) and Asian Philosophical Texts: Exploring Hidden Sources (Mimesis International, 2020). He is also a translator and Ōhashi Ryōsuke, Kyoto School and Imperial Japanese Navy: Over New Historical Material, ‘Ōshima’s Memorandum’ is forthcoming with Bloomsbury, 2024.