Abstract
In my paper, I examine the ethical aspect of space and time as found in Watsuji Tetsurō's thought. In his work, Watsuji Tetsurō (和辻哲郎1889-1960) conceived an original ethical system which integrates Asian schools of thoughts and Western philosophy, especially phenomenology and existentialism.
My concern is focused on Watsuji's notion of social space in terms of phenomenological approach as described in the first chapter Climate and Culture (Fūdo風土) and ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapter of Ethics (Rinrigaku 倫理学), which is where Watsuji sets out his theory of the spatiality and temporality of a human being. The aim of my paper is not to give an account of Watsuji's notion of space and time exhaustively.
Rather, I would attempt to open a discussion in order to think of space and time not as an objective physical dimension we are thrown into, but rather as a subjective and relative setting.