Is space a part of being? Reassessing space through Japanese thought

Abstract

This paper adopts a hermeneutical approach to Japanese thought, in the light of Heideggerian thought, in order to reassess the way we understand space. In a first stage, a few ideas concerning Japanese language and aesthetics will be briefly addressed for a better understanding of how space is embraced in Japanese thought and culture (experience precedes description). We will then turn to the two main concepts: fūdo (milieu) and basho (place), coined by two 20th century philosophers: Watsuji Tetsurō and Nishida Kitarō. The logic behind fūdo is that a true awareness of space is built not from thinking about it – since we are already objectifying it and, therefore, understanding ourselves detached from it –, but from being in it; experiencing it. The concept of basho represents a more logical argument and allows us to focus on the relation between the particular and the universal; or, as we will see, between being and space. What we can conclude from the articulation and interpretation of these two concepts is that space is certainly more than just a pure geometrical concept or a receptacle where human beings exist – it can also be thought of as a part of being.