Biohistory journal, Summer, 2003

Biohistory journal, Summer, 2003: Index > Adoration and Tears are the wellspring of creation

Dialogue/Philos About love Adoration and Tears are the wellspring of creation Tomonobu Imamichi and Keiko Nakamura

Tomonobu Imamichi, Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo Keiko Nakamura, Gneral Director, JT Biohistory Research Hall

The people who lament the lack of interest in science on the part of young people suggest we foster their curiosity. I don't think so. People without curiosity don't exist. The important thing is the attitude toward the subject. I thought this was "a love born of patient observation", and Aristotle thought it was "wonder", and Professor Imamichi says it is adoration. The important factor in adoration is not the subject, but one's own emotions, I think. (Keiko Nakamura)

Concluding the dialogue / Tomonobu Imamichi

I am a philosopher, and philosophers love dialogues, so I was glad to participate despite being a poor conversationalist. I had a pleasant time talking with Dr. Nakamura, who focused on the word mezuru(philos) in Japanese, about the relationship between learning and emotion, starting with Mushi Mezuru Hime (the tale of the Princess who Loved Insects). There are some frightening specimens, but we had the freedom of speech.     I discussed my idea that science is scholarship that depends on hypothesis, and that it involves description which relies on measurement devices and other tools for a sense similar to sight. This scholarship believes in machines such as computers, so it lacks the certainty of philosophy. Before we knew it, science has come to be supported by people who think that curiosity drives research. I worry that if this state of affairs continues, we may degenerate into a situation resembling that of second- or third-rate journalists limiting themselves to the pursuit of scandal out of curiosity.     During our dialogue, Dr. Nakamura accepted my idea that scholarship was related to mezuru (philos), or indeed, love, and that adoration was the impetus behind learning. This made me very glad. That sort of scientist may also be of benefit to humankind.

Although my opinion that science is just scholarship driven by curiosity arises the anger of scientists.

It's not thinking that everyone is wonderful. It's discovering the wonder (admiration) In things that seem trivial at a glance. That is the foundation of the Biohistory Journal.

From the editorial department

Professor Imamichi happened to see the Encyclopedia Britannica in the room where the interview was held, and with said a touch of nostalgia (because he was involved with editing the reference), "It starts with Ai(love). An encyclopedia that begins from love could only happen in Japan, I think." I was both a little happy and startled     From the start, it was upsetting for science to be severely criticized with a back-handed comment such as, "That's about all you can expect from it", but I thought I saw the point. The director, Dr. Nakamura, saw in Mushi Mezuru Hime, a story from the Heian period, the origin of the Japanese emotional and scientific outlook regarding living creatures. She is aiming for a larger readership for Biohistory.     In ancient Greece, Aristotle said that scholarship started from thaumazein. Professor Imamichi translates thaumazein not as wonder, but as adoration. Plato lifted his voice in admiration to the stars, and in the Japanese story, the princess loved caterpillars, which turned into beautiful butterflies. The starting point for science is not just the pursuit of objectivity or accuracy.     Unfortunately, Professor Imamichi did not care for caterpillars very much, so it seemed as if his conversation with the director, who loves all living creatures, seemed to hit a brief snag. Adoration and love is the basis for the deep contemplation of life, however. We sensed that starting from that point, the intersection of contemplation and scientific research could create a new wisdom. While it has been written that this is a new approach, its origin lies in both ancient Greece and Japan's Heian period. In truth, this questions the old. The dialogue ends with the creation of a Latin proverb by Professor Imamichi: Admiratio et lacrima sunt origines creationis, or "Admiration and tears are the wellspring of creation".

Tomonobu Imamichi     Born in Tokyo in 1922. Graduated from the Tokyo University School of Literature with a degree in philosophy. He has served as a professor at Tokyo University, the director of the Institut International de Philosophie (Paris), and is a standing member of the International Society of Philosophy. At present, he is a professor emeritus at Tokyo University, director of the Centre International pour Etude Comparée de Philosophie et d'Esthétique, chair of the International Metaphysical Association, and a professor at Sapientia University.

Dialogue

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