{"product_id":"9780231536615","title":"An Encouragement of Learning","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe intellectual and social theorist Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote  \u003ci\u003eAn Encouragement of Learning\u003c\/i\u003e (1872--1876) as a series of pamphlets as he completed his critical masterpiece,  \u003ci\u003eAn Outline of a Theory of Civilization\u003c\/i\u003e (1875). Closely linked, the two texts illustrate the core tenets of Fukuzawa's theoretical outlook: freedom and equality as inherent to human nature, independence as the goal of any individual and nation, and the transformation of the Japanese mind as key to moving forward in a rapidly evolving political and cultural landscape. Fukuzawa called for the adoption of Western modes of education to help Japan emerge as a modern nation. He believed human beings' treatment of one another extended to a government's behavior, echoing the work of John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and other Western thinkers in a classically structured Eastern text.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47111550730480,"sku":"9780231536615","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780231536615_p0.jpg?v=1763679284","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780231536615","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}