PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF EXISTENTIAL EMPTINESS AND THE MEANING OF LIFE IN JAPANESE CULTURAL ARCHETYPES
Keywords:
Keywords: existential emptiness, meaning of life, Japanese philosophy, impermanence, ma, relational self, values, responsibility, cultural archetype, existential interpretation.Abstract
Abstract. This thesis examines existential emptiness through a philosophical reading of selected Japanese cultural motifs rather than treating Japanese culture as a fixed psychological type. The analysis distinguishes three layers of emptiness: ontological finitude, axiological disorientation, and relational disconnection. Concepts associated with impermanence, interval, relationality, disciplined practice, and everyday purpose are interpreted as symbolic resources that can transform the experience of “nothing to live for” into a reflective search for orientation. The study combines existential, axiological, hermeneutic, and comparative approaches. Special attention is given to the difference between emptiness as nihilistic loss and emptiness as an open field in which new commitments may emerge. The argument is that meaning is not merely discovered as an abstract idea; it is gradually constituted through interpretation, relationships, and concrete responsibility.
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