Andō Shōeki

A forgotten manuscript reveals a thinker who attacked the authority of sages and rulers, yet insisted that his own way contained no conflict. Kanō Kōkichi follows the traces of Andō Shōeki, whose vision joined a radical criticism of society to an equally radical commitment to cultivation and peace.

Beginning with his discovery of Shōeki’s writings and the destruction of a manuscript in the great earthquake, Kanō reconstructs the course of an unusual philosophical argument. All things, Shōeki contends, exist through mutual relations; doctrines that claim absolute authority distort nature and provoke suffering. His proposed alternative seeks adequate food, productive labor and a society in which human needs no longer generate conflict.

Admiration does not exclude criticism. Kanō questions Shōeki’s account of causality, examines his patriotism and marital doctrine, and distinguishes the thinker’s proposals from his own reformulation. This complete English translation preserves all six sections, documentary details, quotations and concluding reflections, with notes on terms, uncertain readings and textual difficulties.