Individualism from Age 14: Thought and Philosophy for Living Without Losing Yourself

2022/01/14

Apparently, there was debate even in the publisher's planning meeting about including "Individualism" in the title. It was feared it might be confused or misunderstood as egoism—thinking only of oneself. But of course, that is not the intention at all. I guarantee that reading the content will instead provide an opportunity to cast off egoism.

Soseki's lecture records include "My Individualism." It is a record of how Soseki, after struggling in his youth, found a path worthy of risking his life for, and passionately explained his experiences and thoughts to the students of Gakushuin. These words of Soseki from over 100 years ago still resonate today.

Combined with various issues surrounding COVID-19, there is a sense of suffocating difficulty in living these days, like a lingering mist. I feel that both adults and children in today's society tend to get exhausted by overly intellectual "aerial battles." In the midst of a digital and data-driven online society, people are surrounded by "information" and controlled by algorithms even before they experience or challenge things for themselves. As a result, many people seem to avoid dialogue with their own hearts and end up cornering themselves.

I have been continuing a project called "Capitalism of Desire" in both video and print. A few years ago, I published "Capitalism from Age 14," and this "Individualism" also serves as a sequel. When shifting the focus of thought from society to the individual, I intended it to be a prescription for the question of how to develop immunity in a society where technology seems to commodify not just data but even the human heart.

Starting with Soseki, and including Lacan, Fromm, Lao-Zhuang, Montaigne, Kitaro Nishida, and others, I remove the quotation marks from these "historical giants" and consider how they protected their way of being and living within the "human world" (from "Kusamakura") that is "difficult to live in" in any era. Conversely, it is an essay on how we face modern society as individuals. I believe it also contains elements of a message that will resonate with business people.

"Individualism" is easily misunderstood, but I found it enjoyable to think about how Yukichi Fukuzawa, who believed there could be no national development without individual independence, would have perceived Soseki's "individualism." Two people who climbed the same mountain from different paths, even if their angles of thought differed.

I would like the next work to be "independence and self-respect from Age 14."

Individualism from Age 14: Thought and Philosophy for Living Without Losing Yourself

Shunichi Maruyama

Daiwa Shobo

272 pages, 1,650 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.