Takashi Sasaki, "The Philosophy of Don Quixote: The Ideas and Life of Unamuno" Summary and Comments - Spanish Philosopher Known as the Kierkegaard of Southern Europe and Don Quixote
Introduced here is "The Philosophy of Don Quixote: The Ideas and Life of Unamuno" by Takashi Sasaki, published by Kodansha in 1976.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Spain, which has missed the modern world, on the contrary, has a strange charm and potential because of its backwardness.
In this context, Unamuno's life-long task was to regenerate the Spanish spirit and immortalize its life through the madness and melancholy of Don Quixote.
This book, which for the first time presents to the public the life of a genius who had a profound influence on Ortega and other European thinkers, also makes us aware anew of the spiritual fragility of our modern civilization.
From the cover of "The Philosophy of Don Quixote: The Ideas and Life of Unamuno" by Takashi Sasaki, Kodansha Ltd.
Unamuno was a Spanish philosopher known as the "Kierkegaard of Southern Europe.
I read this book because of Unamuno's "The Lives of Don Quixote and Sancho," which I will discuss in the next article.
I amDon Quixote."is my favorite. Unamuno's "The Life of Don Quixote and Sancho" tells of his love and passion for Don Quixote. This book was so interesting that I wondered who Unamuno was who wrote it, so I picked up this book, "The Philosophy of Don Quixote: The Life and Thought of Unamuno".
This book provides an accessible summary of the life and thought of the Spanish philosopher Unamuno for the beginning student.
As the title suggests, Unamuno's philosophy is inseparably linked to "Don Quixote. It is very significant to know Unamuno in order to study "Don Quixote.
I cannot speak specifically about Unamuno in this article, but I would like to share one particularly memorable passage from the book here.
That would be the part where the philosopher Unamuno's side as an educator is described. I was also impressed by Unamuno's personality. Let's read the passage.
As a Hellenist, Unamuno was not content with teaching Greek as his specialty. Before he could be a professor of Greek, he had to be, in the true sense of the wordteacher (classroom)The first time the company was in
Federico de Onis, one of Unamuno's former students and later a prominent critic, recalled his mentor Unamuno in later years as follows.
If anyone,teacherIf we must honor the word "teacher," the word Christ commanded us to call no one else on earth, then he alone has the right and the duty to be so called. There was nothing contrived about his teaching. It was like a gathering of friends, where the master rejuvenated himself day by day in the presence of his students, attuned to our personal concerns and our impulsive and emotional way of perceiving the world. It was not a narrowly academic relationship that bound us together. Rather, it was our entire spiritual life that bound us together, starting from the concrete problems of the disciplines we had cultivated together and raising them to fundamental, eternal, and by their very nature human problems" (Maria de Maestre, Spanish Prose Writers of the 20th Century).
What Unamuno aimed for
Unamuno himself says, "In my teaching, I strive not only to teach the material entrusted to me, but also to fulfill my duty of education by working on each one of my students, by ennobling and animating their minds" ("Education").
What he sought through his teaching, his ultimate goal, was not merely to impart knowledge, but to awaken in each student a burning desire to search for truth, or, to use Unamuno's expression, a true skepticism, a true insecurity.
Regarding not devoting himself to his specialty of Greek literature and language studies, he said, "In a country like ours, which is so seriously behind the times, and where the general education is so weak and narrow, academic specialization, however great its utility, is even more of a disadvantage.
Robert Curcius, the brilliant contemporary German humanist, called Unamuno "the inspirer of Spain," and indeed, the time is coming when he will begin to speak to all of Spain from the pulpit of the University of Salamanca.
Kodansha, Takashi Sasaki, The Philosophy of Don Quixote: The Thought and Life of Unamuno, p. 71-73
Some line breaks have been made.
What he sought through his teaching, his ultimate goal, was not the mere impartation of knowledge, but the awakening in each student of a true skepticism, a true anxiety, to follow the Unamuno expression, a burning desire to search for truth."
What do you think?
Unamuno did not simply teach knowledge; he wanted each student to be motivated to search for truth.
And his enthusiasm spread beyond the university classroom to Spain and even the entire world.
Instead of retreating into himself and indulging in philosophy, Unamuno loved "Don Quixote" and from it, he continued his wholehearted contemplation for the revival of Spain and shared his passion for the people.
This book provides an easy-to-understand introduction to the life and thought of Unamuno.
This was an interesting piece. He is quite a minor philosopher in Japan, but I really hope that his existence will spread as much as possible.
The above is "Takashi Sasaki, "The Philosophy of Don Quixote: The Ideas and Life of Unamuno," a Spanish philosopher called the Kierkegaard of Southern Europe and Don Quixote.
Next Article.
Click here to read the previous article.
Related Articles
