A Climate. A Philosophical Study. Tetsuro Watsuji, 1961.
Watsuji, T. (1961) A Climate. A Philosophical Study. Printing Bureau, Japanese Government.
In this philosophical work, Watsuji expands the Heideggerian idea of being, and expands it to consider climate in a much more extense way. Climate (fūdo) is to be understood in a broader way than we are used to, including not only natural and geographical factors, but also social ones. In this way, the idea of climate can be exchanged by that of setting, although in this way it brings the natural aspects of our environment and our surroundings to the fore of the reader’s imagination in a much more visual way. Furthermore, in contrast with Heidegger’s individualistic inquiry of being, Watsuji takes the perspective of a people, such that the climate becomes the shaper of an entire people’s attitudes and values.
