Religion, Nature and Evolution in Modern Japan and East Asia

The intellectual impact of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is almost impossible to overstate, having far-reaching implications for fields as diverse as biology, philosophy, psychology, politics, economics and theology. This working group seeks to examine the reception, application and perceived implications of evolutionary theory in Japan and other East Asian countries. Central to this exploration is an acknowledgment that advocates of evolution emphasized different facets of the theory and their interplay with religion and politics.

This group seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary group of historians, philosophers, sociologists and biologists to examine these issues. We seek to examine how evolutionary biology, and views of nature and the environment more broadly, intersected with religion and society in modern Japan and East Asia. We will explore how evolutionary ideas and beliefs about the natural world intersected philosophy, politics and theology in non-Western and non-Christian contexts historically, and how they continue to manifest today. We hope that these virtual meetings provide the seeds to apply for funding to host an in-person conference, with the long-term goal of producing an edited volume on the topic.