Abstract
In this chapter, Sevilla engages the following questions: Is global ethics a matter of universal norms independent of historical and cultural specificity? Or is ethics a matter of local moralities? First, this chapter examines of the localizing aspect of Watsuji Tetsurô’s Ethics. It then proceeds to his view of the debate between universal morality and national morals in his earlier essays. Through this, Sevilla clarifies Watsuji’s own unique approach to how universality and particularity might be unified, and how this is applied in global ethics. Finally, Sevilla analyzes the contemporary debates on global ethics (or global justice), focusing on the issue of moral relativism and universalism, and suggesting how Watsuji might contribute to a new way of approaching these discourses.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Sevilla Anton セビリア アントン. 2016. Watsuji Tetsurô no gurôbaru rinrigaku ni okeru rinriteki na fuhensei to tokushusei 和辻哲郎のグローバル倫理学における倫理的な普遍性と特殊性. Hikaku shisô kenkyû 比較思想研究. 42: 81–89. [Winner of the Japanese Association of Comparative Philosophy research prize, 2017.]
Calichman, Richard F. trans. (ed.). 2008. Overcoming Modernity: Cultural Identity in Wartime Japan. New York: Columbia University Press.
Campbell, Patricia J., Aran MacKinnon, and Christy R. Stevens (eds.). 2010. An Introduction to Global Studies. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Glaser, Charles S., and Chaim Kaufmann. 1998. What is the Offense-Defense Balance and Can We Measure It? (Offense, Defense, and International Politics). International Security 22 (4): 44–82.
Gowans, Chris. 2015. Moral Relativism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-relativism/.
Held, David, Henrietta L. Moore, and Kevin Young. 2007. Cultural Politics in a Global Age: Uncertainty, Solidarity and Innovation. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
Ishida Mizumaro 石田 瑞麿. 1997. Reibun Bukkyôgo daijiten 例文仏教語大辞典. Tokyo: Shôgakukan.
Jones, Christopher. 2003. Interman and the ‘Inter’ in International Relations: Watsuji Tetsurô and the Ethics of the Inbetween. Global Society 17 (2): 135–150.
Lukes, Steven. 2008. Moral Relativism. New York: Picador.
Murphy, Michael. 2015. The Critical Cosmpolitanism of Watsuji Tetsurô. European Journal of Social Theory.
Ogawa, Hitoshi. 2013. Solidarity as a Universal Virtue: Reevaluating Watsuji Tetsuro’s Rinrigaku. Tokuyama Kôgyô Kôtô Senmon Gakkô kenkyû kiyô 徳山工業高等専門学校研究紀要 37: 51–56.
Shapiro, Ian. 2003. The Moral Foundations of Politics. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Song, Sarah. 2016. Multiculturalism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiculturalism/.
Sullivan, William M., and Will Kymlicka. 2007. The Globalization of Ethics: Religious and Secular Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wallerstein, Immanuel, et al. 1996. Open the Social Sciences: Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sevilla, A.L. (2017). Universality vs. Particularity: Local Ethics in a Global World. In: Watsuji Tetsurô’s Global Ethics of Emptiness . Global Political Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58353-2_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58353-2_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58352-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58353-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)