Motora Yuzero, ZEN Practice and "The Idea of Ego in Oriental Philosophy"

SATO, Tatsuya (Ritsumeikan University, Dept. of Psychology, Kyoto, 603-8577, Japan)

　 In 1895, Motora Yuzero (professor of psychology, University of Tokyo) practiced ZEN under the supervision of Shaku Soen at ENKAKUJI Temple. Shaku was the one of the most famous ZEN masters. He assigned Motora a KOAN. A KOAN is a puzzle or an illogical question, statement or story, such as "What is one-hand clapping?" Motora practiced ZEN for 7 days struggling to answer that KOAN. Finally Motora achieved "pure experience," which was the condition of ego without representation. Motora interpreted the principle of ZEN as pragmatism, and he developed a new theory of ego. Then he presented "The idea of ego in oriental philosophy" at the 5th ICP in Rome.

Key words: History of Psychology, Motora Yuzero, Zen Experience, Ego, Pragmatism.