In Search of a Better "Rightness"

When you enter the Faculty of Law, it is only natural that you will study specialized subjects related to law and politics. However, there are many other classes as well. Literature, philosophy, art, Physics, astronomy... young people might not immediately understand why they have to learn so many things. But it is this way because, since long ago, veterans of life have thought, "After all, you really must know about various things." It is like savings or insurance; you never know when you will need it, but one day you will realize with great intensity, "Ah, I'm glad I studied that." Or, even if you don't feel it so strongly, it will have become the fertilizer for your intellect and thinking before you know it.

Up until now, you have likely been taught that it is important to think and express yourself logically. However, at university, you must go beyond that. Regarding a single issue, you can construct this logic, that logic, and various other logics. Which of those is better, or best? To make that judgment, you need the ability to think from various perspectives and the power of imagination. Acquiring as many perspectives as possible—that is the important meaning of studying various genres at university, and that is what "liberal arts" (kyoyo) is all about.

If you continue to assert yourself from only one perspective, there is a danger of becoming a kind of fanatic. You must not become stiff-necked and decide that "this is just how things are." In the world of academia, "truth" is constantly being updated. It frequently happens that the ideas of even the most eminent scholars are overturned in the next era. Living in the modern age where absolute standards of value judgment like God or Kings have been rejected, we have no choice but to remain conscious that "this 'rightness' is also a relative thing that may be rejected someday."

In my classes, we read various literary works, and there is always the possibility that an unexpected interpretation of a famous work will emerge. For example, I Am a Cat or Kokoro, which you may have read—those are actually... Kafka's The Metamorphosis is considered an incomprehensible, absurd work, but no, in reality, it is incredibly realistic... Camus's The Stranger is a wonderful work, but it reveals a prejudice that even the author was unaware of... The reason why the protagonist of Hesse's Beneath the Wheel ended up like that was... I will tell you what I understand. It should be interesting. However, it might be you who comes up with an even newer interpretation, an even newer "rightness," in the middle of our discussion.