Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Andō Shōeki
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Quizzes
Agathon (centre) greeting guests in Plato's Symposium, oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Philosophy 101
Read Next
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), German philosopher. Print published in London, 1812. Profile portrait surrounded by Ouroboros ancient Egyptian-Greek symbolic serpent with tail in mouth devouring itself representing unity of material and spiritual in eternal...
Philosophers to Know, Part II
Aristotle (384-322 BC), Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. One of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western thought, Aristotle established the foundations for the modern scientific method of enquiry. Statue
Philosophers to Know, Part I
Discover
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Thanksgiving Celebration Traditional Dinner Setting Food Concept
Why Is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Celebrated on a Thursday?
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered

Andō Shōeki

Japanese philosopher
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ando-Shoeki
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
Quick Facts
Flourished:
c. 1750
Flourished:
c.1750 -

Andō Shōeki (flourished c. 1750) was a Japanese philosopher considered to be one of the forerunners of the 19th-century movement to restore power to the emperor. He was also one of the first Japanese to study European thought.

Andō was a native of Akita. He practiced medicine at Hachinohe, in the present Aomori prefecture, but became prominent as a social thinker in the 1750s. Andō was critical of the feudal society of the Tokugawa shogunate. In his work Shizen shin’eidō (“The True Way of Administering [the society] According to Nature”), he called for the abolition of the warrior class and a return to agrarian egalitarian society, which was to be administered directly by the national government.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.