On Imamichi Tomonobu's Aesthetic Thoughts

Since 1990s, the circles of aesthetics have cast an infinite attention to the oriental aesthetics, and so many scholars of China and Oriental countries have returned to the oriental aesthetic traditions, and reflect upon the tendency of this traditional aesthetics, about which many occidental scholars are also wild. As the 1st oriental nation that has held international aesthetic conferences, Japan has got its aesthetics going ahead of other oriental countries, regarded from either its disciplinary construction, researching results, or the merge between the east and the west. When we are still gaining chances by reflecting on copying the occidental aesthetic theories, focusing on reviewing our 5000-year long ethnical civilization and creating our own history of aesthetics, Japan, as a part of the Confucian cultural circle, has got much enlightenment from the collision between the eastern and western cultures, sets the occidental philosophical aesthetics as the frame of reference, and reflects on the oriental philosophical aesthetics. As an oriental aesthetician, the Japanese Imamichi tomonobu has been dedicated to the comparative studies of philosophical aesthetics of the East and the West. He is established in oriental traditions and the actual requirements of human spirits in the modern society, making the Existential Aesthetics of Heidegger his theoretic frame, and has a profound and complete discussion of the philosophy and the aesthetics in China.Imamichi tomonobu has absorbed the Phaneroscopic Aesthetics of Husserl and the Existential Aesthetics of Heidegger, and by combining the classical aesthetics both in China and Japan, he puts forward his own theory of the essence of aesthetics, which differs from those of western aesthetic experts. In his opinion, aesthetics stands for the existence of consciousness and conception, thus it has diverted people's attention from objective reality to the spiritual level of human beings, reviewing aesthetics and existence as a whole. As to the objects that have been studied, Imamichi tomonobu has avoided the defects that the western objects are always confined to artistic aesthetics; considering the characteristic of nature and human beings, amusement teaching, he has brought nature, technology, human behaviours and spiritual values into the scope of aesthetic researches. He has widened the field of this kind of research, making it diverted to the question of the existence of human beings. Affected by this theory of"questioning technology"made by Heidegger, Imamichi tomonobu also has a systematic discussion of the relations between the definition of art, the aesthetic art, modern technology, modern society and artistic aesthetics. In the book aesthetics phase and art he explains the aesthetic existence and existential aesthetics and the relations between the two, and, by the ways of dimensional changs and seasonal oblivion, has a general introduction to the influences of modern technology to art.Imamichi tomonobu's working method, Calonologia, has redefined aesthetics. Most classical arts hold a concept that aesthetics is artistic; however, with the development of modern technologies, some arts have parted from aesthetics, thus Calonologia, made by putting together kalon, no, nous and logos which respectively represent beauty, existence, rationalism and knowledge in the Hellenic language, could now be regarded as an aesthetic discipline alone instead of a combination of aesthetics and art in the past. A precise and rational explanation is given to aesthetics as an existence; as a thing which close to existence ,it is not only a kind of existence, but also a sparkling aspect to surpass the original. The root"kalon"put before"no"means that it is a discipline exploring the value of aesthetics which surpasses existence.The Existential Philosophy and Aesthetics of Heidegger has the most profound influence among those of western world during the 20th century; the Confucian school by Confucius could have a lasting effect upon the oriental philosophy and aesthetics in China and Japan. It is a great wish of modern oriental aestheticians to combine these two schools together. Imamichi tomonobu's way of research has got the main characteristics and achievements that makes The Existential Philosophy and Aesthetics of Heidegger its reference frame and reviews the ancient Confucian school. His successful attempt to combine occidental and oriental aesthetics has cast an important enlightenment upon the modern aesthetics in China and could be used for reference in the globalization of our oriental aesthetics.