Fukuzawa Yukichi · Politics

Practical Learning: Knowledge That Works

Fukuzawa&rsquo;s campaign for <em>jitsugaku</em> - practical, empirical learning close to the business of life - and against the sterile Confucian textualism that prized the memorizing of ancient classics over useful knowledge of the real world.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Fukuzawa attacked Confucian textualism as impractical &lsquo;empty learning&rsquo; and championed jitsugaku : practical, empirical knowledge tested by observation and reason, prized for its use to ordinary life and to the nation. Explain the contrast and why it mattered for Meiji Japan.

Leads to Francis Bacon.

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