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theses

This study explores the intellectual tradition Fukuzawa Yukichi, a renowned Japanese political theorist of the nineteenth century, initiated. Fukuzawa was not only the proponent of liberalism whose Western ideas spread to East Asia, but also the most representative liberal of his time. His life and thought represented the general history of East Asian liberalism—its rise, frustration, and betrayal. Many scholars acknowledge Fukuzawa’s contribution in spreading liberalism and enlightenment in his early life and awakening the dormant masses in Asia to face the modern world. Fukuzawa, however, later betrayed transnational solidarity in Asia and encouraged imperialism in Japan, which naturally drew heavy criticism. Understandably, postmodernists regard Fukuzawa’s betrayal as a fundamental failure of Western modernity and, further, the problem inherent in the idea of enlightenment and “progress” as such. This study is an attempt to defend Fukuzawa’s project of East Asian enlightenment against the postmodern critique and find the universal significance of the tradition—not just in the Asian context. The impulse of imperialist expansion and totalitarianism came from the frustration of enlightenment rather than its continuation and extension. As this study will show, the frustration of the Enlightenment and liberalism was due to the liberals’ failure to maintain their own commitment to progress and universal rights.

ETD_9266

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Minhyuk Hwang

doi:10.7282/t3-fkny-vy34

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.