Ultimately, Yanagi's philosophy leads to a Buddhist non-dualistic view. He insists that true beauty is not the simple opposite of ugliness; rather, it is a quality that . This is a challenging concept for the Western mind, but it is central to his thought. In his view, utilitarian objects made by the common people exist "beyond beauty and ugliness". Their value is not found by comparing them to others in a hierarchy, but by perceiving them directly, with a "beginner's mind," and recognizing their innate rightness and vitality.
At the heart of Yanagi’s thesis is the distinction between "artist-crafts" and "folk-crafts". He posits that individual artists are often hindered by their own egos and the desire for self-expression, which leads to artificiality. In contrast, the "unknown craftsman" works within a set tradition, creating objects through endless repetition that eventually frees their hands from conscious thought. Anonymity as Purity the unknown craftsman a japanese insight into beauty pdf