new article on Theory & Psychology

Finally, my new article on intercorporeality was published. It is an attempt to bridge Merleau-Ponty's notion of intercorporeality and the current theory of social cognition in psychology and cognitive science.

Tanaka, S. (2015). Intercorporeality as a theory of social cognition. Theory & Psychology, 25(4) 455-472.

International Symposium in Denmark

For all those who may be interested in, here is the detailed information of the symposium that we will organize in Denmark next month. If you have any further question, feel free to ask me by email (shg.tanaka <a> gmail.com)


International symposium: "Civilization Dialogue between Europe and Japan"

Venue:
Tokai University European Center
Vedbaek Strandvej 476, 2950 Vedbaek, Denmark
http://www.u-tokai.dk/

Program:
[November 13th, Friday] 
14:30-14:40 Welcome & Introduction
14:40-17:30 International Symposium: “Civilization Dialogue between Europe and Japan”
     Peter Grønnegård (Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science)
     Yoichi Hirano (Tokai University)
        “A note on the possibility of a Civilization Dialogue: From a Trans-Disciplinary
          Humanities perspective”
     Nobutaka Kutsuzawa (Tokai University)
        “The Takenouchi mission and Western culture: The introduction of the telegraph”
     Peter Pantzer (University of Bonn)
        “European perceptions of Japan”
18:00-20:00 Dinner
[November 14th, Saturday] 
09:00-10:10 Keynote Lecture
     Luca Tateo (Aalborg University)
        “Some ideas on civilization from the cultural psychology’s viewpoint”
10:10-10:30 Coffee
10:30-12:30 Paper Session
     Nana Miyata (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
        “European views on Japan in the 17th century: The European perceptions of
          Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the writings of Erasmus Francisci (1627-1694) and
          Eberhard Werner Happel (1647-1690)”
     Toru Hattori (Tokai University)
        “An essay on the tourist gaze: Study on tourism from a trans-disciplinary viewpoint”
     Yuki Takatori (Tokai University)
        “Legitimacy of English domination and its relationship with linguistic and cultural diversity”
     Ayano Hidaka (Tokai University)
        “On Goethe’s criticism to Newton’s color theory”
     Chiaki Genji (Tokai University)
        “The influence of Nihon-Shikki (Japanese lacquer ware) imported to Europe”
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:30 Workshop: “East-West Dialogue through the Body”
     Shogo Tanaka (Tokai University)
        “Reconsidering the self in Japanese culture from an embodied perspective”
     Denis Francesconi (University of Verona)
        “Embodiment in education: The case of meditative practices in Western society”
     Tomoko Nakamura (Tokai University)
        “The beauty of harmony: The case of Albrecht Dürer’s theory of human proportion”

Host:
Tokai University, Institute of Civilization Research
Tokai University European Center

International symposium in Denmark

Tokai University Institute of Civilization Research, where I am one of the members, is going to hold a two-day academic event in November 13-14. The venue is Tokai University European Center, in Vedbaek, Denmark (30kilometer north of Copenhagen).

http://www.u-tokai.dk/

As you can see in the proposal, this event has a very unique character that focuses on the difference of civilization between Europe and Japan (including cultural difference), and tries to promote dialogue. 

We have several slots available for individual papers on Saturday, 14th. If you are interested in presenting your idea, please send me an email (shg.tanaka [a] gmail.com) by September 15th. I will communicate the further details. 

------------------------------------------------------------

International symposium

Civilization Dialogue between Europe and Japan: 

--Responsibilities of academic research in an era of the ‘clash of civilizations’--

Currently, globalisation has been rapidly advancing worldwide. As many have noted, the 20th century was a ‘century of war’ as seen in the two World Wars and the Cold War. The world in the 21st century is concerned about the ‘clash of civilisations’, where the state of international order reflects a multi-polarization of world politics along with the progress of post-colonialization. Despite this tendency, it is impossible without cooperation among the international community to find solutions to issues such as climate change caused by global warming, which poses a threat even to human existence.

     The present world lies in between two conflicting forces. On the one hand, escaping the West-centred civilisation, lifestyles formed in diverse natural environments in different world regions have been increasingly reconstructed as have the individual civilisations based on them. On the other hand, cooperation beyond the nation and community has become crucial for the resolution of global environmental problems, which are the results of extensive exploitation of natural resources through science-based technologies developed in modern civilization. To pursue ‘sustainable development’, it might be essential not only to resolve actual policy challenges but also to pool accumulated knowledge from different civilisations of the world and to create a dialogue between them for mutual understanding and cooperation.

     Since its establishment in 1959, Tokai University Institute of Civilization Research has been promoting studies on various civilisations that humans have formed in different regions. The study of civilisation itself does not form a single discipline. Given that various human activities such as the modes of production, lifestyle, rituals and social practices, collectively form a civilisation, the overview of a specific civilisation cannot be obtained without an integration of findings from each field. The Institute of Civilization Research has been working on a comprehensive study of contemporary civilisations under a project called ‘Trans-Disciplinary Humanities’ as its key focus from this year.

     In light of the above, we have decided to host a conference on ‘Civilization Dialogue’ between Europe and Japan. The foundation of contemporary civilisation is arguably underpinned by values formed in modern Europe, which is especially symbolised by scientific knowledge and its application in industrial technology. Japanese society has proactively accepted not only science and technology but also the western social system and associated values since the beginning of modernisation in the Meiji era. However, modernisation of Japanese society is not necessarily equivalent to westernisation. Traditional values have remained in various aspects. This symposium aims to compare and re-examine views of people, society and nature underlying the civilisations of Europe and Japan. This is an attempt to find an academic response to two conflicting forces that the globalising society is dealing with currently.

     It is a great pleasure and of significance for Tokai University to host such an academic symposium in Denmark. Having witnessed the Danish national revival achieved through the education in the 19th and 20th centuries, the founder of Tokai University determined to establish a new educational institution in Japan. Tokai University was founded on the basis of the spirit and system of Danish education, which also led to Tokai University European Center being established in Denmark. Tokai University will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its foundation in 2017. The Institute of Civilization Research would like to take this research conference as the first step towards further development of civilisation studies and the 100th anniversary to come.

Yoichi Hirano (Vice-Chancellor, Tokai University)

Nobukata Kutsuzawa (Executive Director, Tokai University Institute of Civilization Research)

Shogo Tanaka (Tokai University Institute of Civilization Research)

Host:

Tokai University, Institute of Civilization Research

Tokai University, European Center

Venue:

Tokai University, European Center

Vedbaek Strandvej 476, 2950 Vedbaek, Denmark

Program:

<November 13th, Friday>

14:00-14:30   Welcome & Introduction

14:30-17:30   Symposium: “Civilization Dialogue between Europe and Japan” (TBA)

18:00-20:00   Dinner

<November 14th, Saturday>

09:30:10:30   Keynote Address (TBA)

10:30-12:00   Paper Session (1)

12:00-13:00   Lunch

13:00-14:30   Paper Session (2)

14:30-14:40   Closing

Kyoto Conference 2015

In a month, we will hold a conference on the notion of "Extended Mind" in Kyoto. Here you can find English version of the program following the link below:

Kyoto Conference 2015 "Beyond the Extended Mind: Different Bodies, Dolls, Female Soul and Eastern Spirit"

• Date: June 20-21, 2015
• Place: Kyoto Unviersity, Yoshida-South Campus, Academic Center Bldg.
• Keynote speaker: Tetsuya Kono, Shaun Gallagher

The main purpose of this conference is to put the notion of extended mind onto the context of postcolonial thought, and to present new concepts of mind and self. Post-colonialism has criticized colonialist, imperialist, ethnocentric, androcentric, misogynistic and even anthropocentric aspects of modern philosophy. The philosophy and the sciences of mind, which has kept a distance from post-colonialism, cannot be an exception any longer, since the modern notion of mind has implicitly modeled on the "mind" of Western, adult, male, middle class people. It is the time to deconstruct it.

We titled this conference as "Beyond the Extended Mind: Different Bodies, Dolls, Female Soul and Eastern Spiri." The papers collected for the conference will treat:
- bodies with "different abilities", not bodies with "disabilities",
- "dolls", not "robots" i.e. slave laborer machines,
- female "soul", not "mind",
- Eastern "spirit", but not separated from body.
All papers do not only criticize past conceptions, but also propose alternative models of mind and/or self.

See you in Kyoto.

A page on intercorporeality

A few days ago, I added an independent page on intercorporeality. It is a minimum summary of the notion, including a quote from Merleau-Pnty's text.

http://embodiedknowledge.blogspot.jp/p/intercorporeality.html

Yoshida's new HP

Yesterday, I received a new year's message from Akihiro Yoshida. He opened his own homepage, where you can read many of his papers in English. Yoshida is very well known as one of the pioneers in phenomenological psychology, in Japan. Now he is in his eighties but still active in research and publication. Rcent works include the Japanese translation of "The Descriptive Phenomenological Method in Psychology" by Amedeo Giorgi.

Here I forward his message partially -- "On the New Year’s Day, my HomePage is open. Would you please visit and enjoy the HomePage when you have time? The HomePage Address is:　 http://yoshidaakihiro.jimdo.com/ "

Enjoy his papers!