Lecture Title: In Search of The World
Lecturer: Yasuhiro Arahata, Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University

In fact, in modern and postmodern philosophy, the term “world” has actually become a deeply troublesome concept—one with the potential to profoundly confuse our thinking. I suspect this is because people project enormous expectations onto what this term is meant to signify. And I say “people” quite deliberately, because it is not only philosophers who find themselves entangled in this notion.
In this talk, I’d like to offer a glimpse into philosophical theories of the world, by drawing on the discourse surrounding light novels, games, and anime works called sekai-kei within Japanese subculture circles.