Abstract

William R. LaFleur points out that Hans Jonas has been better received in Japan than in America. This, according to LaFleur, was because of the surprising affinity between Jonas’s insights and traditional Japanese ethics. This paper examines his assurance. Jonas’s insights and traditional Japanese ethics are similar in certain ways: for example, in terms of the views on the attention paid to children, the connection between Sein and Sollen, and the protection for future generations. However, the bases of these views differ, and some aspects of Jonasian thought are alien to traditional Japanese ethics: his attitude towards nature, his theology, and his idea that human beings can “transcend” the self. Japanese readers should understand these factors in order to understand Jonas’s thought more adequately. However, this in turn could endorse LaFleur’s idea that Jonas’ insights can be universally understood