Introduction
Professor of Comparative Philosophy and Political Thought
LIAS, Leiden University
Dean Leiden University College The Hague
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Chris Goto-Jones's main research interests revolve around questions of philosophy in Modern Japan, with a particular focus on issues in the history of political and ethical thought. He is not only interested in utilising these fields as tools for the understanding of Modern Japan itself, but he is also interested in the ways in which Japanese intellectual traditions can intersect, engage and enter into dialogue with Euro-American traditions of thought. In practice, this means that he attempts to locate his work simultaneously within both Asian Studies discourses and within more mainstream ‘disciplinary’ fields. The ultimate goal, of course, must be the convergence of these types of study, in order to confront the spectre of ethnocentricity.
A key problem in the phrasing of Goto-Jones's research is the question of what it means to study Modern Japan. In his work, he interprets this complex compound in a constellation of ways: firstly, his ‘Japan’ is concerned with the ideas and institutions produced and inhabited by the Japanese people; secondly, ‘modern’ has temporal implications, relating to a historical period that commences (approximately) with the Bakamatsu period (ie. mid-nineteenth century); and thirdly, ‘modern’ has methodological implications, relating to the need for modern scholarship in so-called ‘Area Studies’ to engage seriously with the rigorous demands of the mainstream academic disciplines.
A key problem in the phrasing of Goto-Jones's research is the question of what it means to study Modern Japan. In his work, he interprets this complex compound in a constellation of ways: firstly, his ‘Japan’ is concerned with the ideas and institutions produced and inhabited by the Japanese people; secondly, ‘modern’ has temporal implications, relating to a historical period that commences (approximately) with the Bakamatsu period (ie. mid-nineteenth century); and thirdly, ‘modern’ has methodological implications, relating to the need for modern scholarship in so-called ‘Area Studies’ to engage seriously with the rigorous demands of the mainstream academic disciplines.
At present Chris Goto-Jones is working on several projects:
- Conducting a 5-year research project funded by a 1.25 million euro 'VICI' grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), entitled: Beyond Utopia - New Politics, the Politics of Knowledge, and the Science Fictional Field of Japan
- Writing a series of articles on the concept of 'penitence' amongst postwar Japanese intellectuals.
