Kinji Imanishi

Kinji Imanishi (Japanese今 西 锦 司; * January 6, 1902, † June 15, 1992 ) was a Japanese ecologist, entomologist, anthropologist, evolutionary biologist and philosopher. He was the founder of the Institute for Primate Research ( Reichōken ) Kyoto University ( Kyoto Daigaku full name Reichōrui Kenkyujo (京都 大学 霊 长 类 研究所), Eng. Primate Research Institute ) and together with Itani Jun'ichirô a founder of Japanese primatology.

Biography

Imanishi was in his thinking influenced by the writings of the German - Baltic zoologist Jakob von Uexküll and the Russian writer Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin. Similarly, one can in his thinking and approach recognize traces and influences of the famous Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitaro, the spiritual father of the Kyoto School.

Imanishi began his conduct research first on wild horses, but changed after some time be an object of study and focused increasingly on the observation of primates, especially on the behavior of Japanese macaques on the Japanese island of Kojima. Imanihsi this was one of the first scientists observed the macaques in how these potatoes washed in the sea and this " tradition " passed it on to other animals. Imanishi was there the first scientist of this action, referred to as a "social document transmitted, adaptive behavior ", which could therefore be regarded as a cultural development among monkeys. Imanishi was considered, therefore, as a pioneer and co-founder of Far Eastern influenced behavioral research on primates. His methods used by him in this area went as a basis in the general study of primates. So he rejected the hitherto prevailing dualism was drawn between humans and apes from. Similarly, it rejected from Imanishi, only with a number, as usual, to date, to mark his experimental animals, but gave that name. This approach was also justified to the extent that he presented a personality all of his animals and thus regarded as an individual, which differs from intra-specific, due to different characteristics, different. Imanishi was one of the first primatologists, who transferred his anthropomorphic perspective on primates. One of the focal points of his work was to explore how human society and their special family structures emerged; he saw in the group internal structures in Makakenpopulationen to an important basis for such development.

With this, the time unusual procedure, Imanishi foreshadowed assumptions that were later taken up by the famous anthropologist Louis Leakey and could be detected by several other behavioral scientists such as Jane Goodall, Frans de Waal or Desmond Morris.

Publications

• Sangaku Seisatsu (山岳 省察). Kōbundō, Tokyo 1940
• Seibutsu no Sekai (生物 の 世界). Kōbundō, 1941 The world of living things. Iudicium, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-89129-651-7

A number of these works has been reprinted several times. Furthermore, a 10 - volume complete edition named Kinji Imanishi Zenshu (今 西 锦 司 全集) and from 1993 to 1994 was also published by Kodansha in 1974 to 1975 in Kodansha an updated same 13 - volume complete edition plus an additional band.