In regard to the "philosophy" of Nishida and Tanabe, while Shimomura acknowledged his deep intellectual debt to them, he could not help but become increasingly aware of their differences with himself. "Professors Nishida and Tanabe are both logicians." Shimomura, having thus reaffirmed his own status as a "philosopher and a historian", then declares, "My own historical interest can be thought of as being connected to the demand to understand from the source. Because it is an understanding it is not a creation. However, my private conceit is that this understanding from the source makes it philosophical."