Abstract

In the section of Rinrigaku entitled “The State”, Watsuji Tetsurō defines the State as “the ethical community of ethical communities”. What he means by that is that the State, for him, is the most encompassing community, unselfish and giving each community of a lower order its proper ethical place. Watsuji thus considers the State to be the most accomplished community. He also claims that the State, since it encompasses all, is morally justified to have recourse to violence in order to impose respect for the laws it edicts, for that violence derives from the moral authority of the State. Finally, for Watsuji, the State by itself possesses a sacred character, due to the predominance of the community it represents over other communities.