The intellectual and social theorist Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote An Encouragement of Learning 1872 1876 as a series of pamphlets while completing his critical masterpiece An Outline of a Theory of Civilization 1875 These closely linked texts illustrate the core tenets of his philosophical 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 advancing in a rapidly evolving political and cultural world In these essays Fukuzawa advocated for the adoption of Western modes of education to help the Japanese people build a modern nation He also believed that human beings treatment of one another extended to and was reflected in their government s behavior echoing the work of John Locke Thomas Jefferson and other Western thinkers in a classically structured Eastern text This volume translates the full text into English and includes a chronology of Japanese history as it relates to Fukuzawa and his work An introduction provides additional background on the life and influence of this profound thinker and a selection of representative writings and suggestions for further reading fully introduce readers to the rare brilliance of his thought