was a prominent

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

and

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

intellectual. He published his ''Doctrine of the Three'' ''Stages of Scientific Development'' in 1936. This was the first Japanese contribution to the

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is the branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. Amongst its central questions are the difference between science and non-science, the reliability of scientific theories, ...

. He was jailed in 1938 following making contributions to the Marxist journal ''Sekai Bunka'' (World Culture). However, following the intervention of

Yoshio Nishina was a Japanese physicist who was called "the founding father of modern physics research in Japan". He led the efforts of Japan to develop an atomic bomb during World War II. Early life and career Nishina was born in Satoshō, Okayama. He rece ...

, he was released into the custody of his professor,

Hideki Yukawa Hideki Yukawa (; ; 23 January 1907 – 8 September 1981) was a Japanese theoretical physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949 "for his prediction of the existence of mesons on the basis of theoretical work on nuclear forces". B ...

Life and career

Taketani Mitsuo graduated from

Kyoto University , or , is a National university, national research university in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 1897, it is one of the former Imperial Universities and the second oldest university in Japan. The university has ten undergraduate faculties, eighteen gra ...

in 1934 with a degree in physics. He pursued research in nuclear and elementary particle theory as a collaborator with

and

Shoichi Sakata was a Japanese physicist and Marxist who was internationally known for theoretical work on the subatomic particles.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sakata Shōichi''" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ' ...

. Meanwhile, along with Shoichi Nakai and Osamu Kuno, he was arrested twice for participating in the anti-fascist magazines Sekai Bunka and Saturday. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he initially held a position at his alma mater, then moved to

RIKEN is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...

, where he became assistant to

. After the end of the war, he co-founded "Science of Thought" with Shunsuke Tsurumi and others. Afterwards, as a member of the Science of Thought Research Group, he published many papers in fields such as the history of science and theory of technology. He also actively spoke out on nuclear issues, criticizing America's

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lo ...

tests, while affirming the possession of nuclear weapons by socialist countries. In 1952, Taketani became a professor at Rikkyō University, a position he held until 1969. In 1972, he established the Nuclear Safety Issues Research Group, and in 1976, when the Nuclear Data and Information Office was launched, he became its representative.

''Doctrine of the Three Stages of Scientific Development''

Taketani applied

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

's theory of

dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...

s, with the triad

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

Substance Substance may refer to: * Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space Chemistry * Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition * Drug, a chemical agent affecting an organism Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ' ...

, and

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

. Having worked with Yukawa as he developed his discovery of the

meson In particle physics, a meson () is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles, the ...

, he used this as an example of a new substance. With his fellow peer and collaborator

, Taketani developed a Marxist philosophy of science known as the three-stages theory. According to the theory, science starts from a Phenomenal Stage where its role is to describe our experience. Next, science then asks what sort of substance may make up the objects of experience, and also what is the structure they may have, which he calls the Substantial Stage. However, he then argues the question of an essence of both substance and phenomenon emerges as the Essential Stage, which syntheses of the previous two stages. The process is then reiterated with a similar cycle repeated at a higher level.

References

Is Philosophy of Science Alive in the East? A Report from Japan
by Soshichi Uchii, accessed 12 January 2008 1911 births 2000 deaths Japanese Marxists Japanese physicists Philosophers of science Kyoto University alumni Riken personnel Scientists from Fukuoka Prefecture {{physicist-stub