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Jacobi, Friedrich Heinrich (1743–1819)

German idealist philosopher, president of the Munich Academy of Sciences. He criticised rationalism and founded the so-called "philosophy of feeling and faith". His philosophy is an attempt to delimit metaphysically immediate knowledge and mediate knowledge and to counterpose the former to the latter. According to Jacobi, the only true knowledge is sensory experience. The activity of reason does not go beyond the limits of sensory experience. Reason, dealing with subjective concepts, is powerless to prove the existence of things. According to Jacobi, religious feeling, which forms the foundation of philosophy, cannot be understood from the standpoint of rationalism. This led the philosopher to conclude that rational philosophy was linked with atheism. Some elements of Jacobi's philosophy were further developed in the philosophy of life and existentialism.

Jainism

A heterodox system of Indian philosophy, an idealistic system of pluralism which emerged at the beginning of our era. Jainism is based on the doctrine of tattva, the essence. Tattva is the primary material of which the world is built; it is at once the fundamental truth of which knowledge is built. The two chief tattvas are jiva (the soul), whose basis is consciousness, and ajiva (all that is not soul). Matter is a variety of ajiva possessing the properties of tactility, sound, smell, colour, and taste. Matter is atomistic, perceptible to the sense-organs, subject to change, has no beginning and no end, and constitutes the result of divine creation. In addition, there is also the delicate, so-called karma, which conditions the connection between soul and body. There is no single soul or supreme God; there are as many souls in the world as there are creatures. Every soul is potentially omniscient, all-permeating, and omnipotent, but its possibilities are limited by the concrete body in which it lives. The ethical side of Jainism is based on the doctrine of refraining from doing injury to any living being (ahimsa).
An Indian religion, believed to have been founded by a mythical sage Mahavira (great hero), who is said to have lived in the 9th-8th centuries B.C.

James, William (1842–1910)

US psychologist and idealist philosopher, prominent exponent of pragmatism, professor at Harvard (1889–1907). Opposed the materialistic world outlook. Conscious of the fallacies of the metaphysical method, James also rejected dialectics and professed irrationalism. His analysis of the mind, which James described as "stream of conscience", laid emphasis on the volitional and emotional elements. James substituted the pragmatic principle of utility for objective understanding of the truth and paved the way to fideism, advocating the right to believe what cannot be proved or reasoned. James's "radical empiricism" is, in effect, a subjective reduction of reality to "pure experience", to consciousness. His "neutral monism" defines the material and the spiritual as two different aspects of one and the same "experience". James championed religion and was active in a special organisation he founded in New York for the examination of mystical "experience". His main works are The Principles of Psychology (1890), The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), and Pragmatism (1907).

Japanese Philosophy

The formation of the first philosophical doctrines in Japan began in the epoch of feudalism. Japanese philosophy developed under the influence of the natural philosophical ideas of ancient China, the ethico-political teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and later of Neo-Confucianism. The founders of Neo-Confucianist idealism in Japan were Fujiwara Seika (1561–1619) and Hayashi Razan (1583–1657). Their school ("suse gakuha") propagated the doctrine of the Chinese philosopher Chu Hsi. The Japanese Neo-Confucianists thought that tai keku or mu keku—the "Great Ultimate"—rules the Universe. It is a universal transcendental force, without qualities and forms, and beyond man's perception. The mystical absolute tai keku, the foundation of the ideal principle ri (li), connected with the material principle ki (ch'i), is able to create the physical nature of things and man. The Neo-Confucianists elaborated upon the dogmas of Confucianism on the eternal relations of subjection (the son to the father, the subject to the emperor, the wife to the husband, and so on).

The schools of classical Confucianism led by Yamaga Soko (1622–85), Butsu (Ogiyu) Sorai (1666–1728) and those of the followers of subjective idealism of the Chinese philosopher Wang Shou-jen (Wang Yang-ming)—"Oyomeigakuha"—led by Nakae Toju (1608–48) were also active during this period. Materialistic views were formed in defiance of the then dominant idealistic trends in Japanese philosophy. The acquaintance of the Japanese philosophers with the doctrines of West European thinkers (Bacon, Gassendi, Hobbes, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton) was of great importance for the development of materialistic philosophy in Japan and for the undermining of the role of Confucianist and Neo-Confucianist idealism and of Buddhist mysticism. The works of Kaibara Ekiken (1630–1714), Muro Kyuso (1658–1734), Ito Jinsai (1627–1705), Yamagata Shunan (1687–1752) played a great role in developing the anti-feudal social thought and materialist and atheist ideas.

The materialist philosopher and atheist Ando Shoeki was active in the epoch of feudalism (end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century). He discarded the Neo-Confucian idea of the "limitless" ideal principle and defended the principle that "uninterrupted formation" is the real law of nature. There are some elements of dialectics in his statements on nature and its laws. According to Ando Shoeki, the world consists of five infinite material elements, which act of their own will. He was a resolute enemy of the feudal regime, and propagated the advanced ideas of Enlightenment. He denied the idea of the inborn inequality of men and considered private ownership the source of social evil; his demands in the social sphere, however, were utopian. In order to achieve equality people should pass on to collective cultivation of land, which would lead to social equality, to the flourishing of the arts and handicrafts. The prominent materialist elements in the works of the natural philosopher Miura Baien (1723–89) are a testimony to the definite rejection of Confucian scholasticism. The exponents of materialism and atheism in Japanese philosophy were Minagawa Wakein (1716–1804), Hiraga Gensai (1726–79), Yamagata Bantu (1761–1801), Kamada Ryuku (1754–1821).

The incomplete bourgeois revolution of 1867–68 was an important factor influencing the development of Japanese philosophy in the second half of the 19th century. Philosophical ideas during this period developed in the struggle between the philosophers of "kanryo gakusha" ("scientists of the bureaucracy") and of "minkan gakusha" ("scientists of the people"). The representatives of the "kanryo gakusha" were Nishi Amane (1826–94) and Kato Hiroyuki (1836–1916). They thought their mission was to "develop culture according to the plans, tastes, and efforts of the top layers". They attempted to combine the elements of Confucianism and the ideas of West European idealist philosophy (Mill, Bentham, Comte, Spencer). Nishi was the first to introduce the term "tetsugaku", or "philosophy". A prominent exponent of "minkan gakusha" was Fukuzawa Yukuchi (1830–1901). He denied the social-Darwinist ideas of Kato Hiroyuki and preached social equality.

An ideologist of the Japanese monarchical regime was the idealist and eclectic Inoue Tetsujiro (1855–1944). He opposed English empiricism and tried to synthesise the ideas of Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, Shintoism, Buddhism with those of German classical philosophy (especially Hegel and E. Hartmann) and empirio-criticism. His eclectical doctrine became the philosophical basis of the ideology of "Japanism". The opponent of Inoue's philosophy and of all idealism in general was the materialist and atheist philosopher Nakae (1847–1901), who had a great influence upon the development of Japanese progressive scientific and social thought. At that time chairs specially instituted in the universities spread the ideas of German classical philosophy and the latest idealism (phenomenology; philosophy of life; pragmatism; and existentialism). The most widespread was the philosophy of Nishida Kitaro (1870–1945), who tried to express the ideas of Zen-Buddhism in the concepts and principles of West European idealist philosophy. The ideas of the German classical philosophy of Neo-Kantianism, intuitionism, pragmatism, and existentialism were eclectically bound together in Nishida's teachings. The scientific Marxist world outlook in Japan was actively spread by Tosaka Gen (1900–45); Kawakami Hajime (1879–1946), translator of Marx's Capital; and Nagata Hiroshi (1904–47), author of a new and improved translation of Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-Criticism.

Jaspers, Karl (1883–1969)

A leading exponent of German existentialism, professor at Basle University. He started as a psychiatrist, and this determined in many ways his conception of philosophical problems. Jaspers sees in psycho-pathological phenomena (Allgemeine Psychopathologie, 1913) not the expression of individual disintegration, but man's intensified search for his individuality. Considering this morbid search as the core of real philosophising, Jaspers comes to the conclusion that any rational picture of the world is still not knowledge. It can be only the "Chiffre fur das Sein" (the cipher for being), which always needs interpretation. According to Jaspers, the inner content of philosophy is disclosed only by intimate "understanding" of the "cipher" and the task of philosophy is nothing but to comprehend the irrational that is dominating the world, and to understand it as the source of the highest wisdom (Vernunft und Existenz, 1935).

The peculiarities of Jaspers's existentialism are most prominently seen in his doctrine of "borderline situations". According to Jaspers, the real meaning of existence becomes clear to men during periods of deepest shock (illness, death, unatonable guilt, etc.). Precisely at this moment "Scheitern der Chiffre" ("the downfall of cipher") takes place. Man becomes free from the burden of everyday cares ("Vorhandensein in der Welt") and of his ideal interests and scientific views of reality ("das transzendentale An-sich-sein"). He faces a profoundly intimate existence ("Existenzerhellung") and his true experience of (a transcendental) God (Philosophie, 1932). The doctrine of "border-line situation" served Jaspers to defend the "cultural psychological value" of the cold war (Die Atombombe und die Zukunft des Menschen, 1958).

Jeans, James Hopwood (1877–1946)

English physicist and astrophysicist; a prominent exponent of modern "physical" idealism; author of investigations in theoretical physics, astrophysics, and cosmogony. His hypothesis of the solar system originating from a collision between the Sun and another star was popular in the 20s and 30s. In the light of this hypothesis (which proved fallacious) planetary systems are a very rare and accidental phenomenon. Jeans sought to use the theory of relativity and the quantum theory to substantiate idealism.

Jevons, William Stanley (1835–1882)

English logician and economist, professor at Manchester and London universities, one of the first to employ the mathematical method in economic analysis. This did not free him from a crudely materialistic understanding of economics (e.g., of crises). In logic he was a follower of George Boole, though he pointed out the flaws in Boole's logical calculations. Jevons was the author of the first and simplest logical machine. His theory of knowledge gravitated towards agnosticism. His most prominent works are Theory of Political Economy, Elementary Lessons in Logic: Deductive and Inductive, and The Principles of Science.

Joliot-Curie, Frederic (1900–1958)

French physicist, Communist, Chairman of the World Peace Council (1949–58), member of the Paris Academy of Sciences, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. His chief discovery was the phenomenon of artificial radioactivity; he also investigated the conversion of electron-positron pairs; and when the neutron was discovered he was one of the first to indicate the possibility of making practical use of atomic energy. He was an adherent of dialectical materialism.

Judaism

Religion of the Jews. It arose out of the pagan polytheism of the ancient Jewish tribes and became a monotheistic religion in the 7th century B.C. The characteristic features of Judaism are: belief in one god, Jehovah, belief in the Messiah (saviour) and the dogma that the Jews are the chosen people. The sources of Judaism are the Old Testament (also recognised by Christianity) and the Talmud (an intricate scholastic system of commentaries on the Old Testament). Despite the assertions of modern Judaistic theologians about the special, "purifying" role of Judaism, it is no less anti-scientific and reactionary than other religions. Judaism is the state religion of Israel and the religious basis of Jewish bourgeois nationalism (Zionism).

Judgement

An idea expressed in the form of a declarative sentence, which makes some assertion about objects and which is objectively either true or false. Examples of judgement: "All planets rotate around the Sun", "If a number is divisible by 10, it is also divisible by 5", "Smith will pass his exam with excellent marks". The first two judgements are true, whereas the third may prove to be true or false (depending on Smith's marks), although the speaker may have assumed that he was expressing a truth. A hypothesis is also a judgement and may be objectively either true or false, although it is not yet proved or disproved. The laws of science are judgements the truth of which has been proved. Ideas which cannot be characterised as true or false are not judgements (questions, orders, requests, etc.).

Judgements may be divided into simple and complex. Simple judgements are those which within the limits of a system cannot be reduced to other judgements. Complex judgements are made up of simple ones through various logical connectives, e.g., conjunctions "and" (conjunction), "or" (disjunction), "if ... then" (implication). The truth or falsity of complex judgements is a function of the truth or falsity of simple judgements: by knowing the value of simple judgements, we can determine the value (truth or falsity) of complex judgements.

Four types of judgements are usually regarded as simple in traditional formal logic (Aristotle formulated his syllogistic in respect to these four): (1) General assertions: their structure is expressed in the formula "All S. are P.", where S. is subject; P.—predicate, and "are"—connective. Example of such judgement: "All liquids are resilient"; (2) general negations; their structure: "No S. is P.", e.g., "No whale is a fish"; (3) particular assertions; their structure: "Some S. are P.", e.g., "Some metals are fluid"; (4) particular negations; their structure: "Some S. are not P.", e.g., "Some metals do not oxidise". The theory of judgements was worked out in detail by Aristotle in his treatises De Interpretatione and Prior Analytics.

Justice and Injustice

Ethical concepts expressing diverse moral qualifications of social phenomena: the vindication and sanctioning of a social phenomenon by recognising it as just, or its condemnation and negation by qualifying it as unjust. The concepts of justice and injustice are usually set out in philosophical, ethical, political, and other theories. As a rule, their interpretation of justice and injustice was considered as absolute and valid for all historical periods. In fact, however, these concepts change from one epoch to the next due to changes in social relations. Furthermore, in a class society members of the different classes interpret them differently. The ruling class vindicates the existing economic relations, while the revolutionary class criticises and negates them.

Marxism elucidated the concept of justice and measured it in relation to the vital needs of natural social development. Marxist ethics associates the concept of justice with the idea of liberating society from exploitation. Socialism alone creates genuinely just relations of equality, fraternal friendship, and co-operation between all peoples. Social justice attains its summit in communist society, in which all traces of social and economic distinctions disappear.