Kah Kyung Cho (June 7, 1927 – January 15, 2022) was a Korean-American philosopher. He specialized in

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

, hermeneutics, contemporary German philosophy, and east–west comparative philosophy. He had worked with continental philosophers such as

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

and

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family an ...

. He taught at

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

(SUNY) from 1971 to 2017 and took retirement as a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor. Cho's seminars have traditionally centered on discussions anchored in close textual and hermeneutical readings of works in the phenomenological tradition, including Heidegger's ''Fundamental Concepts of Metaphysics'', '' Being and Time,'' and Gadamer's '' Truth and Method.''

Education

Cho graduated from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

in South Korea in 1952, and then went to the University of Heidelberg in Germany to pursue a Ph.D., completing it in 1957.

Career

Cho became a professor at SUNY in 1971, and since then has also served as a visiting professor at a number of institutions including the

University of Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

in Germany and

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

in Japan. Dr. Cho was awarded the Fulbright Senior Research Professorship Award in 1961, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Grant in 1989, and 1997.

Philosophy

In his attempt to bring Asian thought to the attention of Western readers, Cho adopted a markedly different approach from that of Japanese philosophers, as Landgrebe pointed out. While most Japanese are used to relying on their own Zen Buddhist tradition as the basis for assimilating Western philosophy, Cho appealed to more original Chinese sources of Taoism and Neo-Confucianism in order to implement a much wider ranging conversation between the two traditions. The most important tool for this cross cultural research, for Cho, is Husserl's phenomenology. It is significant not only for its methodical thrust into the depth dimension of conscious and subconscious experience. Phenomenology provides, as Cho often emphasizes, the purest "optical instrument" with built-in possibilities for self-correction. If philosophy is in its essence the pursuit of self-knowledge, then the objectives for Asian philosophers are clearly mapped from the beginning. They are called upon to turn to their own traditions and engage their Western colleagues in conversations based on what they can positively contribute to sharing a higher and better level of knowledge.

Selected publications

The following is a ''partial'' list of publications by Kah-Kyung Cho.Publications
/ref> * Philosophy and Science in Phenomenological Perspective (ed.), Phaenomenologica 95, Dordrecht 1984 * Bewusstsein und Natursein, Phänomenologischer West-Ost Diwan, Freiburg 1987 (Japanese translation, 1994) * Phänomenologie der Natur (ed.), Freiburg, 1999 * Phänomenologie in Korea (ed.), Freiburg, 2001

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