Fusing the Eastern and Western Models of the Self: The "Logic of Self" and the "Logic of Science."

Monday, 16 March 1998, 4:15pm
Hiroshi Shimizu
Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology, University of Tokyo
Founder and Director of The "Ba" Research Institute,
Kanazawa Institute of Technology

This is the second of three lectures.

In recent years, scientists have recognized that information is generated only with life and that humans are living members of the earth's ecological system. As a living system, we live in the non-deterministic complex world, with an indefinite and vague future. It is important, then, for the sciences to embrace complexity, subjectivity and vagueness if we are to answer the perplexing questions which face us all. The concepts of Ba and Basho, strongly related with Eastern (especially Japanese) culture, can be useful to our thinking about these issues. As the philosopher Kitaro Nishida pointed out, Ba and Basho, are based on non-separated self, and must be expressed by a predicative logic in contrast to the logic of Western rational thinking which is subjective, based on separated self, where the object is observed as definitely separate by the subject which occupies the position of observer).

A living system lives, however, by fusing both selves, the separated self and the non-separated self. How do these systems achieve integration, maintaining self-consistency while avoiding contradiction? A number of aspects of these issues will be addressed in this series of public talks.

Biography: Professor Hiroshi Shimizu , a leading Japanese biophysicist, has been working for many years on philosophical issues about the nature of self, representation and the environment. His work combines Eastern and Western views of the Self and Consciousness in order to answer the fundamental question of how an organism can function in a world in which it, itself, both forms part of the environment and is determined by it. His "dual centered theory of self" which builds on and extends the Japanese concepts of "ba" and "basho" has emerged recently as a very powerful unifying concept in Japanese thought not only within theoretical philosophical circles but also in both the business and national governmental sectors. In the corporate realm, many major Japanese corporations are currently exploring how to build upon his model in the design of products ranging from automobiles to robots to assist people disabled by stroke or other brain injury to learn to walk again. On a broader social level, the Japanese government is interested in the application of Shimizu's theoretical perspective to broader social issues including the resolution of societal conflicts and the management of cultural diversity in a global economy.

Since 1993. Professor Shimizu has been a Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology, Kanazawa Institute of Technology and Director of the "Ba" Institute. Before joining Kanazawa Institute, Professor Shimizu was Professor at the University of Tokyo from 1977-1993.

The other two lectures are

March 12 (Thur):3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Xerox PARC

"The Dual-Centered Model of the Self: An overview of the Theory of Ba and Basho"
( CSL Commons #2230, PARC)
(If you are interested in attending, please contact Kim Paulon (kpaulon@parc.xerox.com) at least one day ahead to arrange for escort. Please plan to arrive not later than 2:45.)

March 17 (Tue): 2-4 p.m.: FX Palo Alto Laboratories

"Design Principles for Knowledge Systems from the Dual-Centered Perspective"
(Kumo)
(If you are interested in attending, please contact Livia Polanyi (polanyi@pal.xerox.com) at least one day in advance to get directions and arrange for escort.)