Cover not available

In:Emancipatory Pragmatics: Innovative approaches to pragmatics incorporating the concept of “ba”
Edited by Yoko Fujii, William F. Hanks, Sachiko Ide, Scott Saft and Kishiko Ueno
[Culture and Language Use 24] 2025
► pp. 1–33

Get fulltext
PDF logo with download linkDownload Chapter PDF

Introduction

 | University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
 | University of California Berkeley
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 2 December 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.24.01saf
Abstract
This Introduction is divided into two parts. The first part by Scott Saft explicates Emancipatory Pragmatics and provides a brief summary of all of the contributions within this volume. The second, by William F. Hanks, offers a detailed introduction to and discussion of the conceptualization of ba that is at the center of this project. The two parts work together to prepare readers for the 13 chapters that follow.
Article outline
  • Part one. Introducing Emancipatory Pragmatics
    and the individual chapters
  • Part two. Elements of a ba-based approach to pragmatics
    • Nishida and beginnings
    • Ba principle as set forth by Hiroshi Shimizu
    • Toshihiko Izutsu and the place of articulation in ba theory
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Suggested readings
References (68)
References
Berque, A. (2014). Ba ‘le lieu’ [Ba ‘the place’]. In P. Bonnin & others (Eds.), Vocabulaire de la spatialité japonaise [Vocabulary of Japanese spatiality] (pp. 40–42). CNRS Éditions.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a theory of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, P., & Levison, S. (1978). Universals in language usage: Politeness phenomena. In E. Goody (Eds.), Questions and politeness: Strategies in social interaction (pp. 56–130). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fukao, K. (2023). Life philosophy of Bin Kimura. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports, 2, Article e145. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grice, H. P. (1989). Studies in the way of words. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanks, W. F. (2002). Exemplary natives and what they know. In G. Cosenza (Ed.), Paul Grice’s heritage (pp. 203–230). Brepols.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanks, W. F., Ide, S., Katagiri, Y., Saft, S., Fujii, Y., & Ueno, K. (2019). Communicative interaction in terms of ba theory: Towards an innovative approach to language practice. Journal of Pragmatics, 145, 63–71. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heisig, J. W. (2001). Philosophers of nothingness. University of Hawai’i Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ide, S., & Ueno, K. (2025). Politeness in Japanese. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heisig, J. W., Kasulis, T. P., & Maraldo, J. C. (Eds.). (2011). Japanese philosophy: A sourcebook. University of Hawai’i Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Izutsu, T. (1982). Toward a philosophy of Zen Buddhism. Prajña Press. (Original work published 1977).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kimura, B. (2000). L’Entre: Une approche phénoménologique de la schizophrénie [The between: A phenomenological approach to schizophrenia] (C. Vincent, Trans.). Éditions Jérôme Millon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). Presumptive meanings: The theory of generalized conversational implicature. The MIT Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCarthy, E. (2020). Watsuji Tetsuro, the mutuality of climate and culture, and an ethics of betweenness. In B. Davis (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of Japanese philosophy (pp. 503–522). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nishida, K. (1987). An inquiry into the good (A. Masao & C. Ives, Trans.). Yale University Press. (Original work published 1921).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ono, J. (2016). Izutsu Toshihiko no shisaku wo saikōsuru: Ba no tetsugaku ni mukete [Rethinking of Izutsu Toshihiko’s thoughts: Toward philosophy of ba]. Kokusai Tetsugaku, 5, 161–173.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2023). Izutsu Toshihiko: Sekai to taiwasuru tetsugaku [Izutsu Toshihiko: Philosophy of dialogue with worlds]. Keio University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shimizu, H. (1995). Ba principle: New logic for the real-time emergence of information. Holonics, 5(1), 67–79.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suggested readings
Arisaka, Y. (2000). System and existence: Nishida’s logic of place. In A. Berque (Ed.), Logique du lieu et dépassement de la modernité [The logic of place and the overcoming of modernity] (Vol. 1, pp. 41–65). Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berque, A. (Ed.). (2000a). Logique du lieu et dépassement de la modernité [The logic of place and the overcoming of modernity] (2 Vols.). Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(Ed.). (2000b). Basho, chôra, tjukurrpa, ou le poème du monde [Basho, chôra, tjukurrpa, or the poem of the world]. In Logique du lieu et dépassement de la modernité [The logic of place and the overcoming of modernity] (Vol. 2, pp. 274–290). Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buber, M. (1996). I and thou (W. Kaufman, Trans.). Simon & Schuster. (Original work published 1923).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carter, R. E. (2008). The Japanese arts and self-cultivation. State University of New York Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). The Kyoto School: An introduction. State University of New York Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dalissier, M., Nagai, S., & Sugimura, Y. (Eds.). (2016). Philosophie japonaise: Le néant, le monde et le corps [Japanese philosophy: Nothingness, the world, and the body]. Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elberfeld, R. (2011). The middle voice of emptiness: Nishida and Nishitani (J. M. Wirth, Trans.). In B. W. Davis, B. Schroeder, & J. M. Wirth (Eds.), Japanese and continental philosophy: Conversations with the Kyoto School (pp. 270–285). Indiana University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fujii, Y. (2012). Differences of situating self in the place/ba of interaction between the Japanese and American English speakers. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(5), 636–662. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanks, W. F. (1992). The indexical ground of deictic reference. In A. Duranti & C. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 43–77). Cambridge University Press. (Reprinted from Papers from the Parasession on Language in Context, Chicago Linguistic Society, 1989).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Explorations in the deictic field. Current Anthropology, 46(2), 191–220. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Explorations in the deictic field. Current Anthropology, 46(2), 191–220. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). The evidential core of deixis in Yucatec Maya. In Z. Guerncheva (Ed.), L’Énonciation médiatisée [Mediated utterances] (Vol. 2). Peeters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Deixis and pragmatics. In M. Aronoff (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of linguistics. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hanks, W. F., Ide, S., & Katagiri, Y. (Eds.). (2014). Towards an emancipatory pragmatics. Journal of Pragmatics, 69.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haugh, M. (2007). Emic conceptualisations of (im)politeness and face in Japanese: Implications for the discursive negotiation of second language learner identities. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 657–680. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heidegger, M. (1971). On the way to language (P. D. Hertz, Trans.). Harper and Row. (Original work published 1959).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hongladarom, K. (2009). Indexicality in Thai and Tibetan: Implications for a Buddhist grounded approach. Journal of Pragmatics, 41, 47–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ide, S. (1989). Formal forms and discernment: Two neglected aspects of universals of linguistic politeness. Multilingua, 8, 223–248. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Roots of the wakimae aspect of linguistic politeness: Modal expressions and Japanese sense of self. In M. Meeuwis & J.-O. Östman (Eds.), Pragmaticizing understanding: Studies for Jef Verschueren (pp. 121–138). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ide, S., & Ueno, K. (2025). Politeness in Japanese. In Oxford research encyclopedia of linguistics. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Intachakra, S. (2012). Politeness motivated by the ʻheart’ and ‘binary rationality’ in Thai culture. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 619–635. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Izutsu, T. (1983). Sufism and Taoism: A comparative study of key philosophical concepts. University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Language and magic: Studies in the magical function of speech. The Other Press. (Original work published 1956).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Conscience et essence [Consciousness and essence] (S. Nagai, Trans.). In M. Dalissier & Y. Sugimura (Eds.), Philosophie japonaise: Le néant, le monde et le corps [Japanese philosophy: Nothingness, the world, and the body] (pp. 355–391). Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1990). On language (L. R. Waugh & M. Monville-Burston (Eds.). Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
James, W. (1902). The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature. Longmans, Green, and Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1912). A world of pure experience. In Essays in radical empiricism (pp. 39–90). Longmans, Green, and Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2002). The relation between the knower and the known. In The meaning of truth (pp. 102–120). Dover Publications. (Original work published 1909).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nakamura, Y. (2000). Au-delà de la logique du lieu, avec commentaires par Arisaka Yôko et Bernard Stevens [Beyond the logic of place, with comments by Yôko Arisaka and Bernard Stevens]. In A. Berque (Ed.), Logique du lieu et dépassement de la modernité [The logic of place and the overcoming of modernity] (Vol. 1, pp. 356–388). Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nishitani, K. (1982). Religion and nothingness (J. van Bragt, Trans.). University of California Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Otsuka, M. (2014). Personal correspondence 2013–2014. Public presentation, March 25, 2014, Japan Women’s University, Tokyo.
Parkes, G. (Ed.). (2010). Heidegger and Asian thought. Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Peirce, C. S. (1955). Philosophical writings of Peirce (J. Buchler, Ed.). Dover Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Royce, J. (1923). The world and the individual: Vol. 2, Theory of the sources and consequences of any recurrent operation of thought. Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sadato, N. (2017). Across-brain networks emerged from face-to-face interactions probed by hyperscanning fMRI. Presented at the Fondation Fyssen Colloquium: Translation, Multimodal Interaction and Translation, Saint Germain-en-Laye, October 10–14, 2017.
Sakabe, M. (1989). Kagami no naka no nihongo [Japanese language in the mirror]. Chikuma Shobo.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saussure, F. de. (1974). Cours de linguistique générale (T. de Mauro, Ed.). Payot. (Original work published 1908–1911).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schutz, A. (1970). On phenomenology and social relations (H. R. Wagner, Ed.). University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shimizu, H. (1989). Biological complexity and information. In Proceedings of a Conference on the Amalgamation of Eastern and Western Ways of Thinking (pp. 145–185). World Scientific Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stadelmann-Boutry, B. (2000). Quelques notions clés de la pensée de Nishida et leur impact sur le “dépassement de la modernité” avec commentaire par Jacynthe Tremblay [Some key notions of Nishida’s thought and their impact on the “overcoming of modernity,” with commentary by Jacynthe Tremblay]. In A. Berque (Ed.), Logique du lieu et dépassement de la modernité [The logic of place and the overcoming of modernity] (pp. 23–40). Vrin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sugawara, K. (2012). Interactive significance of simultaneous discourse or overlap in everyday conversations among |Gui former foragers. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(5), 577–618. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tanabe, H. (1986). Philosophy as metanoetics (T. Yoshinori, Trans.; J. W. Heisig, Preface). University of California Press. (Original work published 1946).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toru, T. (2020). Japanese phenomenology. In B. W. Davis (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of Japanese philosophy (pp. 631–648). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ueda, S. (1990). Language in a twofold world. In J. W. Heisig, T. P. Kasulis, & J. C. Maraldo (Eds.), Japanese philosophy: A sourcebook (pp. 766). University of Hawai’i Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ueno, K. (2017). Speaking as parts of a whole: Discourse interpretation from ba-based thinking (Doctoral dissertation). Japan Women’s University.
Wakamatsu, E. (2014). Toshihiko Izutsu and the philosophy of word: In search of the spiritual Orient (J. C. Hoff, Trans.). International House of Japan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Watsuji, T. (2017). Fûdo: Le milieu humain [Fūdo: The human milieu] (A. Berque, Trans. & Commentary). CNRS Éditions. (Original work published 1935).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue