Science of Thought and the Culture of Democracy in Postwar Japan, 1946-1962
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation examines efforts to foster a culture of democracy in postwar Japan, focusing on Science of Thought, one of the most influential associations engaged in publicly rethinking democracy in the years after fascism and defeat. The group was founded in 1946 by seven young intellectuals whose wartime experiences had convinced them of the urgent need to bridge the gap between the world of intellectuals and that of "ordinary people." My dissertation shows how the group's many attempts to realize that goal embodied a vision of democratic experimentation that had to be re-articulated again and again in response to challenges that arose in connection with geopolitical events and also with the social changes that accompanied economic recovery and growth. For Science of Thought, democracy was not something that could be decreed by occupation authorities or conjured into existence by the media. Its seeds had to be sought in the "thought" (shisô) of the "man on the street." Contributors to the group's journal espoused a "science of thought" capable of enabling researchers to discover the mental worlds and implicit philosophies of ordinary people. Drawing methodological insight from American pragmatist philosophy and social science, the group conducted statistical surveys and interviews, and produced content analyses of popular movies, novels, and comic books in an unusual experiment to probe the mind of the "common man." In the charged political context of the early fifties, members of the group searched for new ways to nurture democracy from the grassroots. Inspired by the apparent success of the ongoing social revolution in China, members began promoting and facilitating educational and cultural movements underway in the Japanese countryside. In the process, Science of Thought became an anchor for a nation-wide network of factory workers, engineers, students, and housewives linked together by reading groups and writing circles. As economic growth began to transfo…
abstract: This dissertation examines efforts to foster a culture of democracy in postwar Japan, focusing on Science of Thought, one of the most influential associations engaged in publicly rethinking democracy in the years after fascism and defeat. The group was founded in 1946 by seven young intellectuals whose wartime experiences had convinced them of the urgent need to bridge the gap between the world of intellectuals and that of "ordinary people." My dissertation shows how the group's many attempts to realize that goal embodied a vision of democratic experimentation that had to be re-articulated again and again in response to challenges that arose in connection with geopolitical events and also with the social changes that accompanied economic recovery and growth. For Science of Thought, democracy was not something that could be decreed by occupation authorities or conjured into existence by the media. Its seeds had to be sought in the "thought" (shisô) of the "man on the street." Contributors to the group's journal espoused a "science of thought" capable of enabling researchers to discover the mental worlds and implicit philosophies of ordinary people. Drawing methodological insight from American pragmatist philosophy and social science, the group conducted statistical surveys and interviews, and produced content analyses of popular movies, novels, and comic books in an unusual experiment to probe the mind of the "common man." In the charged political context of the early fifties, members of the group searched for new ways to nurture democracy from the grassroots. Inspired by the apparent success of the ongoing social revolution in China, members began promoting and facilitating educational and cultural movements underway in the Japanese countryside. In the process, Science of Thought became an anchor for a nation-wide network of factory workers, engineers, students, and housewives linked together by reading groups and writing circles. As economic growth began to transfo…
author: Bronson, Adam Paul
language: English
keywords: History, Democracy, Democratization, Social change, Twentieth century, Agreement under Article VI of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States of America, regarding Facilities and Areas and the Status of United States Armed Forces in Japan (1960 January 19)
date published: 2012
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:44:22Z
provider: Columbia University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Columbia University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.7916/D8T4414K