Akira Nagano Seminar

We often speak of politics using everyday words such as freedom, equality, power, and domination, yet there are no concepts more difficult to define than these basic ones when their meanings are questioned anew. Furthermore, once you begin to wonder why humans engage in politics—or if we can even truly say that we are doing so—the mystery only deepens. In the field of political philosophy, which we study in this seminar, we delve thoroughly into these fundamental questions. It is not an easy task to think persistently without fleeing from the confusion that arises when things everyone takes for granted suddenly become unclear. However, in doing so, the tradition of political philosophy built up over more than two thousand years serves as a guide. Such a tradition becomes a guiding thread for envisioning what society should be only when we do not accept it blindly, but rather grapple with it critically.

In this seminar, we devote ourselves to steady training to gain even a slight understanding of difficult philosophical and intellectual texts. We learn how to philosophize together by raising our own questions about books that one might be tempted to give up on alone, and by engaging in various dialogues with everyone. In parallel, students pursue individual research on themes of their choice and write their graduation theses. Continuing to deepen the act of questioning itself, rather than being satisfied with finding an answer, may be choosing a detour, but there are surely sights that can only be seen by taking that long way around.

(Published: April 2026)