Shunsuke Tsurumi


Shunsuke Tsurumi was a Japanese historian and philosopher.
After graduating from Harvard University, an A.B., Honors Harvard University in 1942, he was deported on a personnel exchange vessel with his sister Tsurumi Kazuko, Takeda Kiyoko, and Maruyama Masao. Tsurumi taught at Kyoto University.
In 1946, he started the magazine Shiso-no Kagaku with six other people including those who were on board the same deportation vessel with him Takeda, Maruyama and his sister Kazuko. He was a member of the anti-Vietnam War group Beheiren.
Shiso no kagaku was among numerous magazines popped up post-war period, when common people wanted to express themselves. It was unique as it accepted essays from anybody with no discrimination on the authors' academic or sociological background, not limited to politically active students, and printed those on their pages written by nurses, teachers, or social workers for poor factory areas in Tokyo. Tsutsumi was the chief editor of Shiso no kagaku, which editors freely discussed on their theme and selection of articles for each issue.
He was one of the first students of Willard Van Orman Quine. He died on July 20, 2015 of pneumonia in Kyoto, Japan.
Also thought as a literature and philosophy historian, he wrote several books and articles:
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