主導戰前日本教育主旋律的《教育勅語》，頒布之際便引發了國家主義者和部分宗教家的詮釋熱潮，隨後產生基督信仰是否抵觸敕語內容的論爭。在圍繞著《教育勅語》詮釋問題的言論中，哲學家大西祝（1864–1900）融合儒學、康德倫理學和武士道精神等多重知識脈絡，批判當時逐漸僵化的國家主義意識形態，並提出獨具慧眼的東亞社會觀察。 關於個體與民主、倫理觀與國家體制的討論，是過往相關研究中尚待探究的課題，也是本文論述的重點。本文由三部分構成，第一部分考察1890 年代「教育與宗教之論爭」中的個人主義問題，特別關注國家主義者對個人和國家之間關係的論述。第二部分從大西祝對康德倫理學和武士道精神的掌握著手，並探討其政治思想與倫理觀，重新梳理他的國民道德論批判之論則。第三部分聚焦甲午戰爭後大西祝對東亞外交、殖民地統合理論，乃至社會主義所發表的時事評論。本文強調，大西祝身兼洋學家、漢學家、基督教徒以及甲州流兵學後人等多重角色，將西方的理性傳統和日本的武士道相互對照、批判，發展出具日本歷史文化脈絡的「人格」論述。在個體與民主的議題上，他的自由主義和個人主義思想立場，使他在近代社會的倫理與國家的發想上，兼具穩健與進步性。他不為國家發展設定一致的近代化路徑。他的武士道論相較於時人，較少國族主義的包袱。他基於重視個人心性的需求，藉由哲學對近代國家社會提供新的價值提案，可說是個體形成類型中「自立化」的典範。

The promulgation of Imperial Rescript on Education in modern Japan immediately prompted a number of interpretations by nationalists and some religious thinkers, even generating debate over whether Christian beliefs contradicted Imperial Rescript on Education. This article is a study of the process by which the philosopher Onishi Hajime (1864–1900) integrated the multiple knowledge contexts of Confucianism, Kantian ethics, and bushido to intervene in the discursive space surrounding the interpretation of Imperial Rescript on Education. This article also presents Onishi Hajime’s social observations of East Asia, of which few scholars have taken note in previous research. This article has three parts. The first part investigates the issue of individualism in “the debate between education and religion” in the 1890s, paying special attention to the discourse of Inoue Tetsujiro (1856–1944) and Hozumi Yatsuka (1860–1912) concerning the relationship between the individual and the state, as well as their claims about the education of “national morality.” The second part explores Onishi Hajime's emphasis on “autonomy of the will” in Kantian ethics, his philosophical interpretation of the spirit of bushido, and his critique of the intense wave of commentaries on Imperial Rescript on Education in society. The third part focuses on Onishi Hajime's published commentaries on current events after the First Sino- Japanese War concerning East Asian diplomacy, an integrated theory of colonialism, and socialism. This article stresses that while Onishi Hajime possessed multiple roles and identities as a “Western Learning” scholar, a “Chinese Learning” scholar, a Christian, and a descendent of scholars of Koshu-ryu military science, his discussion of “person” and “autonomy of the will” compared, contrasted, and critiqued the Western rationalist tradition and Japanese bushido, in turn developing a discourse of “person” based on Japanese historical and cultural contexts. In the debates on ethical thought during the Meiji period, Onishi Hajime argued for an emphasis on the needs of personal dispositions and attempted to free the individual from the restraint of nationalist ideologies. This clearly demonstrates his opposition to nationalism on the basis of humanist thought.

近代日本; 教育勅語; 大西祝; 倫理學; 個人主義; 武士道

modern Japan; Imperial Rescript on Education; Onishi Hajime; ethics; individualism; Bushido