근세 일본에서의 氣的 세계상과 원자론적 세계상의 충돌 - 志筑忠雄에 의한 ‘屬子’, ‘眞空’, ‘求力’ 개념의 受容을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This paper analyzes the conflict between atomic world-view and ki氣 world-view in Japan during the Edo period. Shizuki Tadao was the Edo scholar who introduced Newton's scientific theory into Japan for the first time. He translated the Dutch book, Inleidinge tot de waare Natuur-en Sterrekunde(Leiden, 1741) into Japanese, which was originally written by John Keill, a Newtonian scholar. It is generally said that the heliocentric theory and Newton's natural philosophy had strong impact on Edo Japanese scholars. In this paper, I demonstrated Newtonian atomic theory also influenced strongly on Japanese scholars because the theory was fundamentally different from the traditional world-view of East Asia. While East Asian thought the world was made of ki, Newtonian thought the world was made of vacuum and atoms. On these two different world views, Shizuki did not take only one of them, but accommodated two different world views. In Kyurikihoron(Treatise on the laws of the attractive force), Shizuki translated 'deelen(particula)' into zokushi屬子, and thought the world was consisted of zokushi and shinku(眞空, vacuum). However, on the process of introducing Newtonian world view into Japan, he did not discard ki world view, but tried to reinterprete the atomic world view based on ki philosophy. According to Shizuki, zokushi is the same as shitsu(質, form) from ki, and hakki(薄氣, rarefied ki) is pervaded even in shinku. He tried to interpret zokushi and shinku, two main concept of Newtonian world view, according to condensation and thinness of ki. In addition, he thought that kyuryoku求力(the attractive force) between particles was generated by ki. In Rekishoshinsho(The new book on the image of calander) written in 1798-1802, Shizuki illustrated ki world-view more vigorously than in Kyurikihoron. He explained Newton's astronomy with ki philosophy. The transformation between ki and shitsu, which had not even been explained before, was explained by Western scientific concepts, such as gravitation and elasticity. In this paper we would realize how the two different views between East and West on the material world could be assimilated in Shizuki's philosophy.