Kazashi, Nobuo <br/><br/>
Intuition, pathos et guerre 

 -  2010.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 6 
<br/><br/> The thoughts of Nishida Kitaro and the Kyoto School formed around him are characterized, not only by their meditations on the “Logic of Place” or the “ Logic of Self-Awakening,” but also by their meditations on the central significance of the body and the positive valorization of technology for human existence; for example, Nishida’s understanding of the bodily existence as both the “invisible” and the “visible,” anticipated by a couple of decades, and bears a striking resemblance to, Merleau-Ponty’s “chiasmic” view of the bodily existence. This paper first brings into light these characteristics of Nishida and the Kyoto School, and, secondly, tries to measure their contemporary significance and limitations by relating them to the issue of “nuclear power” both as “nuclear weapons” and “nuclear energy.” The dropping of the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are one of the decisive historical events that have been functioning as the historical “pivot,” in Merleau-Ponty’s term, co-ordinating the significance of the Post-Hiroshima Age. However, this nuclear “pivot” has a double structure within itself; while the devastating, visible effects of “external radiation” caused by the instantaneous explosions are well-known and indeed working as the strong urge to abolish nuclear weapons, the insidious “internal radiation” caused by the intrusion of residual, radioactive materials into the human body has not been fully recognized till recently even in Hiroshima; as a matter of fact, its danger has been largely suppressed as exemplified in the case of Chernobyl. It is due mostly to the need to cover up its danger and keep it “invisible” in order to legitimize the so-called “peaceful” use of nuclear power. The “nuclear” issue in this double sense can be considered the truly decisive “institution,” in Merleau-Ponty’s term again, of the Post-Hiroshima Age. Thus, we call into question anew, taking clues from the philosophical views developed by Nishida and Merleau-Ponty, the “nuclear” issue as the decisive “invisible institution” conditioning our age not only militarily, but also politically and economically, and, furthermore, aim to “re-institutionalize” it by reconsidering the “safety-level” set by ICRP (the International Committee on Radiation Protection); in doing so, we will take up the DU (Depleted Uranium) issue as the hinge of the nuclear power; DU is the “nuclear waste” used for military weapons.