“Evolutionary Theory Is the Superstition of Modernity”
“Evolutionary Theory Is the Superstition of Modernity”
The 1930s and the wartime period saw the rise of religious—mainly Shintō—antievolutionary thought. Evolutionary theory took on a complex role in this period, as it was discussed by biologists, Marxists, liberals, Kyoto School philosophers, and Shintō ideologues, among whom Kihira Tadayoshi is the central figure. Antievolutionary thought in Japan emerged largely as a reaction against the use of evolution by the Japanese Left, and also as part of a larger skepticism and reaction against modernity, ideas of progress, and the West. Evolutionary theory was attacked for its association with both liberalism and Marxism. Ultimately, despite the conflict between religiously inspired state ideology, evolutionary theory and religion found an uneasy coexistence.
Keywords: evolutionary theory, Kihira Tadayoshi, state ideology, Marxism, Hirohito, Overcoming Modernity
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