Articles
The All-Encompassing Inclusivity of Exclusion : Kaneko Fumiko’s Universalist Tendency
Abstract
The subject of this article is the life of Kaneko Fumiko (1903-1926), and how Kaneko's life engendered an all-inclusive universality in her thought. Kaneko Fumiko was a Japanese anarchist and nihilist, active during modern Japan's Taishō era (1912-1927). She and her partner Park Yeol (1902-1974) were arrested in 1923 and convicted of high treason. Kaneko defined herself as an egoist and nihilist, which would commonly give the impression of an individualistic thinker that rejects having her uniqueness subsumed by universal notions. While she was undeniably a staunch individualist above anything else, a universalist understanding of humanity plays a significant role in her worldview. This universality is especially evident in Kaneko's relentless insistence that humans are absolutely equal by nature, a deviation from Stirner's egoism. I attempt to understand the kernel of universality in her individualistic thinking by referring to the philosophy and psychoanalytic theory of Slavoj Žižek and Todd McGowan. This article asserts that the reason for the universal range of Kaneko's thought can be located in her life experiences as an oppressed and exploited outcast of society.