Miki Kiyoshi's Philosophy of History and the historical role of myth.

In this paper, I argue that Miki's concept of myth offers a continuation and consolidation of his Philosophy of History (1932), providing an important conceptual tool to comprehend his philosophical project. To understand Miki's originality, it is important to contrast his conception of history with that of Rickert's, one of Miki's professors during his stay in Germany. Although scholarship about the Kyōto School does not mention these texts, between 1932 and 1935, Miki's writing focuses on the importance of myth as a manifestation of the historical consciousness during periods of social crisis. Thus, myth, as a form of knowledge tied to the most fundamental ontological level of human existence (that Miki calls 'fact'), was able to serve as an operationalization of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]