Paper short abstract:

In this presentation, I focus on Eto Tekirei’s nōjō mandara, highlighting several elements in his philosophy that are relevant for environmental ethics. I argue that these elements can provide us with useful hints for a re-evaluation of the relation between human beings and nature.

Paper long abstract:

Eto Tekirei 江渡狄嶺 (1880-1944) was a rather enigmatic figure in the intellectual landscape of the first half of the 20th century in Japan. After abandoning his studies in law at Tokyo Imperial University, in 1910 he moved to the outskirts of Tokyo in the village of Takaido, where he became a farmer and founded the so-called Hyakushō Aidōjō 百姓愛道場. With his family, he endeavoured to follow what he later dubbed a “non-religious religion”, i.e. a life which included physical labor, philosophy, art, society, religion, politics, all combined together in a grand, experimental project.

Tekirei’s first two books, "Aru hyakushō no ie" (1922) and "Tsuchi to kokoro wo tagayashi tsutsu" (1924), detail the ups and downs of his first ten year as a farmer and, at the same time, contain the keystones of his socio-(non)religious vision. Coagulating together a variety of influences ranging from Tolstoy to Andō Shōeki and from Buddhism to Christianity, Tekirei crystallizes a system of thought revolving around nature, agriculture and humanity.

One of his most fascinating ideas is the so-called “Agrayana Orbis Mandrus” (nōjō mandara 農乗曼荼羅), a mandala-like, synthetic representation of his philosophy. In it, Tekirei gives a central place to kashoku nōjō 家稷農乗 (“the wheel of household grain farming”), which he further divides into eight categories of equal importance, from nōhō 農法 (farm methods) and nōsei 農制 (farm organization), to nōsō 農想 (farm thought) and nōgyō 農行 (farm practice), etc..

In this presentation, I focus on an analysis of this mandala, in an attempt to highlight several elements in Tekirei’s philosophy that can make a valuable contribution to recent developments in environmental ethics. Thus, I argue that Tekirei’s emphasis on the household as the locus of livelihood, as well as his concept of ba 場 (place, or locus) can provide us with useful hints for a re-evaluation of the relation between human beings and nature.