Raji Steineck – Uchiyama Takashi‘s Philosophy of Time
Channel: European Network of Japanese Philosophy
Date: 2023-05-30

6th Annual Conference of the 
European Network of Japanese Philosophy 
"(Counter)influences" (2021)

Uchiyama Takashi‘s Philosophy of Time

There is not one “real” form of time. Instead, time assumes different shapes,
depending on the ways human beings are involved in change and actively engage it.
This seems to be the fundamental idea behind Uchiyama Takashi‘s 内山節 (b. 1950)
Twelve chapters on time (『時間についての十二章』, first published with Iwanami in
1993). Uchiyama does not treat time as a neutral object or an abstract idea. Instead,
he demonstrates how human beings build notions of time depending on the kinds of
dynamism they interact with, and the way this interaction is socially organised. His
analysis thus echoes the fundamental idea of historical materialism that the social
modes of survival / reproduction have a dominant role in the formation of human
conceptions. Building on this principle, Uchiyama vividly describes various such
modes and the morphologies of time they both engender and generate. He offers an
analysis of various “cultures of time” and their mutual interactions. On a conceptual
level, his ideas point towards understanding time as a necessary reification. This
insight may help to grasp both its supportive function for human culture and society,
and to criticize ideological views of time.
Uchiyama’s philosophy has not received extensive treatment outside Japan so far.
The presentation will therefore introduce the key ideas of his book. It will further
evaluate his propositions on the basis of the evidence and the theoretical references
presented.

Raji C. Steineck is professor of japanology at University of Zurich (Switzerland),
visiting professor at Yamaguchi University’s Research Institute for Time Studies, and
president of the International Society for the Study of Time (ISST). His main research
interests are the critical theory of symbolic forms, Japanese intellectual history, and
the study of time. He has just finished the draft of a monograph on time in Dōgen and
medieval Zen Buddhism.

Conference Program:
https://enojp2021.elte.hu/program


European Network of Japanese Philosophy:
http://enojp.org/


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