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Prestige and Comfort: The development of Social Darwinism in early Meiji Japan, and the role of Edward Sylvester Morse

Pages 323-344 | Received 09 Jun 1995, Published online: 28 Mar 2008

  • See their chapter Darwin and Social Darwinism: Purity and History Natural Order: Historical Studies of Scientific Culture Beverly Hills and London 1979 125 142 their book (eds)
  • For an excellent survey of both the contributions and pitfalls of the postmodernist critique, see Best Steven Kellner Douglas Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations New York 1991
  • Inkster , Ian . 1991 . Science, Technology and Economic Development—Japanese Historical Experience in Context . Annals of Science , 48 : 545 – 563 .
  • Palladino , Paolo and Worboys , Michael . 1993 . Science and Imperialism . Isis , 84 : 91 – 102 .
  • Palladino , Paolo and Worboys , Michael . 1993 . Science and Imperialism . Isis , 84 : 102 – 102 .
  • Young , Robert . 1985 . Darwin's Metaphor: Nature's Place in Victorian Culture 201 – 201 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • For Ian Inkster's identification of the difficulties in separating the elements of ‘indigenous’ and ‘modern’ science in Japan, see Catching Up and Hanging On: The Formation of Science in Modern Japan Annals of Science 1990 47 393 406
  • Beasely , W.G. , ed. 1955 . Select Documents of Japanese Foreign Policy 1853 to 1868 156 – 194 . Oxford Document III and Document IV, 257–89.
  • Inkster , Ian . 1988 . “ The Other Side of Meiji: Conflict and Conflict Management ” . In The Japanese Trajectory Edited by: McCormack , G. and Sugimoto , Y. 107 – 128 . Cambridge H. Jones, Live Machines: Hired Foreigners in Meiji Japan (Vancouver, 1980), 19.
  • Hiroshi , Hazama . 1977 . Formation of the Management System in Meiji Japan: Personnel Management in Large Corporations . The Developing Economies , 15 December : 402 – 419 . (especially 405, 408).
  • Hazama . 1977 . Formation of the Management System in Meiji Japan: Personnel Management in Large Corporations . The Developing Economies , 15 December : 413 – 413 .
  • Shor , Elizabeth . 1974 . “ Morse ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography Vol. ix , 536 – 536 . New York
  • Blacker , Carmen . 1964 . The Japanese Enlightenment: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi 134 – 134 . Boston
  • Oxford , Wayne . 1973 . The Speeches of Fukuzawa 111 – 111 . Tokyo
  • Morris-Suzuki , Tessa . 1989 . A History of Japanese Economic Thought 32 – 32 . Oxford
  • For an account of the increasing rate of school openings in Japan from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the Meiji Era in 1868, see Inkster Science and Imperialism Isis 1993 84 91 102
  • Masaharu , Anesaki . 1963 . History of Japanese Religion 352 – 353 . London
  • Morse , Edward . 1990 . Japan Day by Day Vol. 2 , 176 – 176 . Atlanta II
  • Hofstadter , Richard . 1968 . Social Darwinism in American Thought 34 – 34 . Boston
  • Morris-Suzuki . 1989 . A History of Japanese Economic Thought 51 – 51 . Oxford
  • Morris-Suzuki . 1989 . A History of Japanese Economic Thought 51 – 52 . Oxford 56
  • Inkster . 1991 . Annals of Science , 48 : 122 – 122 .
  • Blacker . 1964 . The Japanese Enlightenment: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi 110 – 110 . Boston
  • Blacker . 1964 . The Japanese Enlightenment: A Study of the Writings of Fukuzawa Yukichi 35 – 35 . Boston
  • Inkster . 1991 . Annals of Science , 48 : 122 – 122 .
  • Inkster . 1991 . Annals of Science , 48 : 122 – 122 .
  • Nagita , Tetsuo . 1975 . Intellectual Change in Early Eighteenth Century Tokugawa Confucianism . Journal of Asian Studies , 34 : 931 – 944 . (especially 935, 941).
  • Craig , Albert . 1967 . “ Science and Confucianism in Tokugawa Japan ” . In Changing Japanese Attitudes Towards Modernisation Edited by: Jansen , Marius B. 155 – 155 . Princeton in
  • Morris-Suzuki . 1989 . A History of Japanese Economic Thought 51 – 51 . Oxford
  • Morris-Suzuki . 1989 . A History of Japanese Economic Thought 51 – 51 . Oxford
  • Shor . 1974 . “ Morse ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography 14 – 14 . New York
  • Wayman , Dorothy . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 103 – 103 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • Wayman , Dorothy . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 103 – 103 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • Pfeifer , Edward J. 1974 . “ United States ” . In Comparative Reception of Darwinism Edited by: Glick , Thomas . 168 – 206 . Austin in
  • Kingsley , J.S. 1925–6 . Edward Sylvester Morse (1838–1925) . Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences , 61 : 549 – 555 . (especially 550).
  • Shor . 1974 . “ Morse ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography IX – IX . New York
  • Shor . 1974 . “ Morse ” . In Dictionary of Scientific Biography IX – IX . New York
  • Wayman . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 104 – 104 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum box 46, folder 1.
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum box 44, folder 7.
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum box 55, folder 25.
  • Transcript published as What American Zoologists have done for Evolution Science 1877–88 32 100 104 493–504 (especially 501).
  • Transcript published as What American Zoologists have done for Evolution Science 1876 10 181 198 (especially 198).
  • Hofstadter , Richard . 1968 . Social Darwinism in American Thought 103 – 103 . Boston 105
  • Pfeifer . 1974 . “ United States ” . In Comparative Reception of Darwinism Edited by: Glick , Thomas . 201 – 201 . Austin in
  • Oldroyd , David . 1980 . Darwinian Impacts: An Introduction to the Darwinian Revolution 210 – 210 . Sydney
  • Sharlin , Harold I. 1976 . Herbert Spencer and Scientism . Annals of Science , 33 : 457 – 480 . (especially 464).
  • Sharlin , Harold I. 1976 . Herbert Spencer and Scientism . Annals of Science , 33 : 465 – 465 .
  • Bowler , Peter J. 1983 . The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolution Theories in the Decades around 1900 120 – 120 . Baltimore
  • Pfeifer . 1974 . “ United States ” . In Comparative Reception of Darwinism Edited by: Glick , Thomas . 199 – 199 . Austin in
  • Rosenberg , Charles E. 1966 . “ Science in American Thought ” . In Science and Society in the United States , Edited by: Van Tassel , D. and Hall , Michael G. 147 – 147 . Dorsey . in
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum box 85, folder 5.
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum box 82, folder 6.
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum box 55, folder 2.
  • Kingsley . 1925–6 . Edward Sylvester Morse (1838–1925) . Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences , 61 : 551 – 551 .
  • Hofstadter . 1968 . Social Darwinism in American Thought 32 – 33 . Boston 49
  • Hofstadter . 1968 . Social Darwinism in American Thought 22 – 22 . Boston
  • Hofstadter . 1968 . Social Darwinism in American Thought 43 – 43 . Boston
  • Wayman . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 237 – 237 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • Wayman . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 237 – 237 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • Wayman . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 239 – 239 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • Wayman . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 237 – 237 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • For Morse's record of this finding, see his, Traces of Early Man in Japan Nature November 1877 17 89 89 April 1878 and ‘A Pre Aino [sic] Race in Japan’, Science, 10 (1892), 148–50.
  • Wayman . 1974 . “ United States ” . In Comparative Reception of Darwinism Edited by: Glick , Thomas . 239 – 239 . Austin in
  • Bartholomew , James . 1989 . The Formation of Science in Japan 65 – 65 . New Haven
  • Noboru , Umetani . 1971 . The Role of Foreign Employees in the Meiji Era in Japan , 65 – 65 . Tokyo : Institute of Developing Economies .
  • Masao , Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 75 – 75 . Philadelphia
  • Wayman . 1974 . “ United States ” . In Comparative Reception of Darwinism Edited by: Glick , Thomas . 242 – 242 . Austin in
  • Morse . 1990 . Japan Day by Day Vol. 2 , 394 – 394 . Atlanta
  • Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 67 – 68 . Philadelphia
  • Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 50 – 50 . Philadelphia
  • Eikoh , Shimao . 1971 . Darwinism in Japan 1877–1927 . Annals of Science , 38 : 93 – 93 .
  • Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 67 – 67 . Philadelphia
  • Shigeru , Nakayama . 1984 . Academic and Scientific Traditions in China, Japan and the West 211 – 211 . Tokyo
  • Morse . 1990 . Japan Day by Day Vol. 2 , 340 – 340 . Atlanta i
  • Morse . 1990 . Japan Day by Day Vol. 2 , 414 – 414 . Atlanta
  • Morse . 1990 . Japan Day by Day Vol. 2 , 202 – 202 . Atlanta ii 205
  • Morse . 1990 . Japan Day by Day Vol. 2 , 429 – 429 . Atlanta i
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum list of attendees at the Monbusho lectures.
  • Jones . 1980 . Live Machines: Hired Foreigners in Meiji Japan 19 – 19 . Vancouver
  • Umetani . 1971 . The Role of Foreign Employees in the Meiji Era in Japan , 66 – 66 . Tokyo : Institute of Developing Economies .
  • Umetani . 1971 . The Role of Foreign Employees in the Meiji Era in Japan , 66 – 66 . Tokyo : Institute of Developing Economies .
  • Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 73 – 73 . Philadelphia
  • Shimao . 1971 . Darwinism in Japan 1877–1927 . Annals of Science , 38 : 94 – 94 .
  • Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 68 – 68 . Philadelphia
  • Shimao . 1971 . Darwinism in Japan 1877–1927 . Annals of Science , 38 : 95 – 95 . traces Kato's reversal to 1877, while Watanabe (note 70), 71, puts it at 1879.
  • Wayman . 1942 . Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography 251 – 251 . Cambridge, Mass.
  • “ E.S. Morse Papers ” . In Peabody and Essex Museum
  • Quoted in Watanabe The Japanese and Western Science Philadelphia 1990 72 73
  • Morris-Suzuki . 1989 . A History of Japanese Economic Thought 56 – 56 . Oxford
  • Anesaki . 1963 . History of Japanese Religion 387 – 388 . London
  • Shimao . 1971 . Darwinism in Japan 1877–1927 . Annals of Science , 38 : 97 – 97 .
  • Quoted in Wayman Edward Sylvester Morse: A Biography Cambridge, Mass. 1942 249 249
  • Watanabe . 1990 . The Japanese and Western Science 68 – 68 . Philadelphia
  • Masao , Watanabe and Yoko , Ose . 1968 . General Academic Trend and the Evolution Theory of Late Nineteenth Century Japan: a Statistical Analysis of Contemporary Periodicals . Japanese Studies in the History of Science , 7 : 129 – 142 .
  • Shimao . 1971 . Darwinism in Japan 1877–1927 . Annals of Science , 38 : 99 – 99 .
  • Hiroshi Unoura's paper, The Social Context and the Reception of Darwin's Theory in Modern Japan was given at a workshop entitled ‘Science, Politics and Evolution in Asia and the Pacific’, sponsored by the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, in October 1995.
  • In a recent workshop presentation (see The Social Context and the Reception of Darwin's Theory in Modern Japan he gave the example of liberalism, which was given an interpretation that was widely divergent from its Western origins in such thinkers as J.S. Mill.
  • See Yoshino Kosaku Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary Japan: A Sociological Enquiry London 1992 for a discussion of the instrumentalist approach taken by the Meiji élite to the formation of social ideology, as compared with the bottom-up development of national identity that occurs in contemporary Japan.

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