Abstract

David Johnson’s book introduces the enormous explanatory potential of Watsuji’s view of nature and one of his most original conceptual creations, fūdo, into the current philosophical discussion. Within the framework of phenomenology and hermeneutics, Johnson brings the idea that nature is part of the very structure of human existence into the limelight. In contrast to the value-free world of nature described by science, at least in a conventional and positivist sense, Watsuji’s nature is a meaningful setting in which subjective and objective elements form a unity. This study shows how conceptual resources from different cultural traditions can enrich our view of the self and nature and, at the same time, pave the way to a reenchantment of nature.