Watsuji’s Phenomenology of Aidagara: An Interpretation and Application to Psychopathology

Abstract

I examine Tetsurō Watsuji’s philosophical discussion of self and embodiment in his Rinrigaku (“A Study of Ethics”). Specifically, I consider how these themes inform his analysis of aidagara, or “betweenness”—one of Watsuji’s central philosophical contributions. First, I develop a phenomenological reading of aidagara. I argue that the notion can help illuminate aspects of our embodied subjectivity and its interrelation with the world and others. Along the way, I also indicate how the notion can be fruitfully supplemented by different sources of empirical research. Second, I put aidagara to work in the context of psychopathology. I show how disruptions of aidagara in schizophrenia not only affirm the foundational role it plays in organizing our experience of self and world in everyday life. Additionally, I suggest the notion can, in this context of application, potentially enhance our understanding of and empathy for those living with schizophrenic disorders.