Research Director: Toshihiko Arakawa (Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Co-researcher: Eiji Gon (Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Tomonori Nakakura (Associate Professor Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences)

1. Overview of research findings
Endo Takayoshi, the founder of our university, was one of the sociologists who pioneered sociology in Japan. Endo began his research in sociology in the late 19th century and early 20th century, when Durkheim (France), Simmel (Germany), and Weber (Germany) were active, and sociological societies were beginning to be established in European and American countries. This research project is a historical study of sociology that locates Endo's sociology within the trend of the times, when sociology flourished worldwide. Endo's first work to bear the name "sociology" was published in 1900 (Meiji 33), a translation of The Principles of Sociology (1896) by Franklin Henry Giddings (1855-1931) of Columbia University, known for his theory of "kindred consciousness." The following year, in 1901 (Meiji 34), Endo wrote a short 68-page work entitled "Sociology of the Present and the Present." In 2024, the first year of research, I began the task of interpreting "Sociology of the Present and the Present," which was the starting point of Endo's sociology. In "Sociology of the Present and the Present," Endo understands "society" not as "simply a collection of people," but as a collection of "unions of minds" established on "agreement." Endo's consideration of the concept of "society" shows his interest in the fundamental problem of sociology, namely, how to think about the relationship between society and the individual, and the influence of the social contract theories of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and others, from the perspective of the formation of society through agreement. Endo also points out problems with theories that explain the composition of society, the driving force of society, and the psychology of society. However, Endo's perspective of viewing social phenomena as "phenomena that arise from society and through individuals," rather than treating them as general phenomena that do not occur within society, makes it possible to find society in the actions of individuals. Endo's statement that "social phenomena are mental" does not simply focus on the psychology of individuals, but has the insight to make social phenomena the subject of sociology, with the background that "individual motivation" is in a "society" based on the "division of labor." These arguments, which foreshadow the influence of Adam Smith's perspective, are contemporary with the sociological theories of Durkheim, Simmel, Weber, and others, and are an issue that should be further examined in relation to Western sociology. The basic theme of this book is to grasp the essence of the relationship between the individual and society, to use the concept of "collective consciousness" in discussing social phenomena, and to explore what "motives" form collective consciousness (Endo believes that social phenomena are motives that are socially formed). There is a strong influence from the work of Giddings, whose translation was published the previous year, but in discussing "collective consciousness," Endo devotes more space to examining the debate between Tarde and Durkheim, which was taking place in France, the cutting edge of sociology at the time, than to examining other social theories, making it interesting to consider Endo's perspective in following contemporary debates. Even at that time, he was already strongly influenced by the American sociologist Giddings, but he also paid attention to research trends in French and German sociology. It seems that the characteristics of Endo's early sociological research, which tried to get to the bottom of what the essence of the concept of "society," which was created during the Meiji Restoration, is evident. Although "Sociology of the Present" is a small book, it is a work that develops solid arguments. In the future, I plan to expand the scope of my research to include other works by Endo, examining how he selectively absorbed contemporary Western sociology and discussed social phenomena and collective consciousness.