On April 17, 2025, a thought-provoking CERC seminar titled “Confucian and Buddhist Philosophies of Education in Watsuji Tetsurō（和辻哲郎）” was held online, drawing a total of 23 participants from both virtual and in-person platforms. The event featured Professor Anton Sevilla-Liu, who delivered an insightful lecture exploring lesser-known aspects of the Japanese philosopher Watsuji Tetsurō’s thought.

Best known for his work on relational ethics and the influence of milieu on culture, Watsuji is often peripherally associated with the Kyoto School. However, as Professor Sevilla-Liu highlighted, Watsuji also developed a nuanced—though scattered—philosophy of education, especially in his three-volume work Ethics (1937, 1946, 1949). While these works touch upon ideas of socialization and social change, they stop short of elaborating a full educational theory.

To delve deeper, Professor Sevilla-Liu turned to two of Watsuji’s under-researched texts: Confucius (1938) and Purifying Zen (1926). In Confucius, Watsuji presents education as a process of finding one’s place within a learning community and entering into cultural life. This model emphasizes a relational virtue grounded in a “call-and-response” dynamic but tends to lack space for critical agency and individual self-reflection.

In contrast, Purifying Zen reveals a strikingly different view, centered on the Zen monk Dōgen and the transformative experiences between master and disciple. Here, education emerges as an awakening of the self—one that questions established orders and fosters individuality through direct, personal encounters.

Professor Sevilla-Liu invited the audience to reflect on how these philosophical insights speak to contemporary global educational challenges: Is education more than skill acquisition? Can it facilitate genuine encounters with others? How can we balance the goals of social integration with the nurturing of unique and creative selves?

The seminar offered a rich dialogue on these questions, inspiring educators, scholars, and students alike to rethink the deeper purposes of education in today’s interconnected world.

CERC will have its Annual Meeting Seminar session on May 13th, please stay tuned for this event!