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The is the name given to the Japanese philosophical movement centered at
Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff = 3,978 (Total Staff) , students = ...
that assimilated
Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophy, philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the Pre-Socratic p ...
and religious ideas and used them to reformulate religious and moral insights unique to the East Asian cultural tradition.D.S. Clarke, Jr. "Introduction" in ''Nishida Kitaro'' by Nishitani Keiji, 1991. However, it is also used to describe postwar scholars who have taught at the same university, been influenced by the foundational thinkers of Kyoto school philosophy, and who have developed distinctive theories of Japanese uniqueness. To disambiguate the term, therefore, thinkers and writers covered by this second sense appear under The Kyoto University Research Centre for the Cultural Sciences. Beginning roughly in 1913 with
Kitarō Nishida was a Japanese moral philosopher, philosopher of mathematics and science, and religious scholar. He was the founder of what has been called the Kyoto School of philosophy. He graduated from the University of Tokyo during the Meiji period in 18 ...
, it survived the serious controversy it garnered after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
to develop into a well-known and active movement. However, it is not a "school" of philosophy in the traditional sense of the phrase, such as with the
Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...
or
Plato's Academy The Academy ( Ancient Greek: Ἀκαδημία) was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the Lyceum. The Academy persisted throughout the Hellenist ...
. Instead, the group of academics gathered around Kyoto University as a ''de facto'' meeting place. Its founder, Nishida, steadfastly encouraged independent thinking. According to James Heisig, the name "Kyoto School" was first used in 1932 by a student of Nishida and
Hajime Tanabe was a Japanese philosopher of science, particularly of mathematics and physics. In 1947 he became a member of the Japan Academy, and in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit. Tanabe was a key member of what has become known in the Wes ...
.
Jun Tosaka was a Shōwa era Kyoto-trained Japanese intellectual, and teacher. Some identify strands of Marxism in his later philosophy. His criticisms of governments and their war policies caused him to end up in prison on various occasions. Life Jun To ...
considered himself to be part of the ' Marxist left-wing' of the school. Afterwards, the media and academic institutions outside Japan began to use the term. By the 1970s it had become a universally accepted term.


History

Masao Abe was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies scholar who was emeritus professor at Nara University. He is best known for his work in comparative religion, developing a Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue which later also inc ...
writes in his introduction to a new English translation of Nishida's magnum opus that if one thinks of philosophy in terms of
Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
or
Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
, then there is no philosophy taking place in Japan. But if it is instead thought of in the tradition carried out by
Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
and Kierkegaard, then Japan has a rich philosophical history, composed of the great thinkers
Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon se ...
,
Shinran ''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaii Press 1998, was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close o ...
,
Dōgen Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a J ...
, and others. The group of philosophers involved with the Kyoto School in its nearly 100-year history is a diverse one. Members often come from very different social backgrounds. At the same time, in the heat of intellectual debate they did not hesitate to criticise each other's work. The following criteria roughly characterize the features of this school: #Teaching at Kyoto University or at a nearby affiliated school. #Sharing some basic assumptions about using Asian thought in the framework of Western philosophical tradition. #Introducing and rationally investigating the meaning of "
nothingness Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...
" and its importance in the history of philosophical debate. #Expanding on the philosophical vocabulary introduced by Nishida. Generally, most were strongly influenced by the German philosophical tradition, especially the thought of
Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
,
Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
,
Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...
, and
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 ...
. In addition, many employed their cultural resources in formulating their philosophy and bringing it to play to add to the philosophical enterprise. While their work was not expressly religious it was informed significantly by it. For example, Tanabe and
Keiji Nishitani was a Japanese university professor, scholar, and Kyoto School philosopher. He was a disciple of Kitarō Nishida. In 1924 Nishitani received his doctorate from Kyoto Imperial University for his dissertation ''"Das Ideale und das Reale bei Sch ...
wrote on
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
and identified common elements between the religions. For this reason, some scholars classify the intellectual products of the school as "religious philosophy." Although the group was fluid and largely informal, traditionally whoever occupied the Chair of the Department of Modern Philosophy at the University of Kyoto was considered its leader. Nishida was the first, from 1913 to 1928. Hajime Tanabe succeeded him until the mid-1930s. By this time, Nishitani had graduated from Kyoto University, studied with
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 centu ...
for two years in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, and returned to a teaching post since 1928. From 1955 to 1963, Nishitani officially occupied the Chair. Since his departure, leadership of the school crumbled — turning the movement into a very decentralized group of philosophers with common beliefs and interests.


Significance of its notable members

The significance of the group continues to grow, especially in American departments of religion and philosophy. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a growing interest in East/West dialogue, especially inter-faith scholarship.
Masao Abe was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies scholar who was emeritus professor at Nara University. He is best known for his work in comparative religion, developing a Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue which later also inc ...
traveled to both coasts of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
on professorships and lectured to many groups on Buddhist-Christian relations. Although
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...
was closely connected to the Kyoto School and in some ways critical to the development of thought that occurred there — he personally knew Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani — he is not considered a true member of the group.


Kitaro Nishida

Nishida, the school's founder, is most known for his groundbreaking work ''
An Inquiry into the Good ''An Inquiry into the Good'', also known as ''A Study of Good'', ( ja, 善の研究) is the first book by the Japanese philosopher Nishida Kitarō, published in 1911. As he explains in the Preface to the work, Parts II and III were composed first ...
'' and later for his elucidation of the "logic of ''basho''" (Japanese: 場所; usually translated as "place," or the Greek τόπος ''topos''). This brought him fame outside Japan and contributed largely to the attention later paid to philosophers from the Kyoto School. Nishida's work is notable for a few reasons. Chief among them is how much they are related to the German tradition of philosophy since
Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...
. The logic of basho is a non-dualistic 'concrete' logic, meant to overcome the inadequacy of the subject-object distinction essential to the subject logic of
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
and the
predicate logic First-order logic—also known as predicate logic, quantificational logic, and first-order predicate calculus—is a collection of formal systems used in mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. First-order logic uses quantifie ...
of
Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
, through the affirmation of what he calls the 'absolutely contradictory self-identity' — a dynamic tension of opposites that, unlike the dialectical logic of Hegel, does not resolve in a synthesis. Rather, it defines its proper subject by maintaining the tension between affirmation and negation as opposite poles or perspectives. Nishitani describes East Asian philosophy as something very different from what the Western tradition of Descartes,
Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of ma ...
or
Hume Hume most commonly refers to: * David Hume (1711–1776), Scottish philosopher Hume may also refer to: People * Hume (surname) * Hume (given name) * James Hume Nisbet (1849–1923), Scottish-born novelist and artist In fiction * Hume, ...
would indicate. Nishida wrote ''The Logic of Place and the Religious Worldview'', developing more fully the religious implications of his work and philosophy through "Absolute Nothingness," which "contains its own absolute self-negation within itself."The Kyoto School (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
/ref> By this Nishida means that while the divine is dynamically paradoxical, it should not be construed as
pantheism Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...
or transcendent theism. Nishitani and Abe spent much of their academic lives dedicated to this development of nothingness and the Absolute, leading on occasion to ''
panentheism Panentheism ("all in God", from the Greek grc, πᾶν, pân, all, label=none, grc, ἐν, en, in, label=none and grc, Θεός, Theós, God, label=none) is the belief that the divine intersects every part of the universe and also extends be ...
''.


Hajime Tanabe


Keiji Nishitani

Nishitani, one of Nishida's main disciples, became the doyen in the
post-war period In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
. Nishitani's works, such as his '' Religion and Nothingness'', primarily dealt with the Western notion of
nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by I ...
, inherited from
Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...
, and religious interpretation of
nothingness Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...
, as found in the Buddhist idea of sunyata and the specifically Zen Buddhist concept of mu.


Masao Abe


Shizuteru Ueda

A disciple of Keiji Nishitani.


Eshin Nishimura


Criticism

Today, there is a great deal of critical research into the school's role before and during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Hajime Tanabe bears the greatest brunt of the criticism for bringing his work on the "Logic of Species" into Japanese politics, which was used to buttress the militarist project to formulate
imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power ( economic and ...
ideology and
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
. Tanabe's notion is that the logical category of "species" and nation are equivalent, and each nation or "species" provides a fundamental set of characteristics which define and determine the lives and outlooks of those who participate in it.


Members

*
Kitaro Nishida was a Japanese moral philosopher, philosopher of mathematics and science, and religious scholar. He was the founder of what has been called the Kyoto School of philosophy. He graduated from the University of Tokyo during the Meiji period in 18 ...
: 1870–1945 (KU Philosophy Dept. 1910–13, Chair 1913–28) *
Hajime Tanabe was a Japanese philosopher of science, particularly of mathematics and physics. In 1947 he became a member of the Japan Academy, and in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit. Tanabe was a key member of what has become known in the Wes ...
: 1885–1962 (KU Philosophy Dept.?, Chair, 1928–35?) *
Tomonaga Sanjūrō was a Japanese academic and esteemed professor emeritus of medieval, renaissance, early modern, and Kantian philosophy at the University of Kyoto during the early 20th century. He was one of the leading thinkers of the Kyoto School. His son, S ...
*
Keiji Nishitani was a Japanese university professor, scholar, and Kyoto School philosopher. He was a disciple of Kitarō Nishida. In 1924 Nishitani received his doctorate from Kyoto Imperial University for his dissertation ''"Das Ideale und das Reale bei Sch ...
: 1900–1990 (KU Philosophy Dept. 1928–35, Chair 1935–63) * Kuki Shūzō *
Masao Abe was a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and religious studies scholar who was emeritus professor at Nara University. He is best known for his work in comparative religion, developing a Buddhist-Christian interfaith dialogue which later also inc ...
* Miki Kiyoshi * Tosaka Jun * Hisamatsu Shinichi *
Shizuteru Ueda was a Japanese philosopher specialized in philosophy of religion, especially in philosophy of Buddhism and Zen. He was a professor at Kyoto University and considered a third generation member of Kyoto School (京都学派, Kyoto-gakuha). Biogra ...
* Saneshige Komaki * Yamanouchi Tokuryu * Takeuchi Yoshinori


References


Bibliography

;Scholarly books * ''The Buddha Eye: An Anthology of the Kyoto School.'' Edited by Frederick Franck. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1982. ::—Seventeen essays, most from ''
The Eastern Buddhist ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism.

''Kyoto School Philosophy: A Call for a Paradigm Shift in Philosophical Thought''
by HORO Atsuhiko. Nanzan Bulletin 16, 1992, pp. 15–32. * ''The Philosophy of the Kyoto School'', edited by Fujita Masakatsu. 2001. ::—''Anthology of texts by Kyoto scholars themselves, with additional biographical essays.'' * ''The Thought of the Kyoto School'', edited by Ohashi Ryosuke. 2004. ::—''Collection of essays dealing with the history of its name, and its members contributions to philosophy.'' * * ''Philosophers of Nothingness'', by James Heisig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001. ::—''Excellent introduction to the School's history and content; includes rich multilingual bibliography.'' * ''Absolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue'', Hans Waldenfels. New York: Paulist Press, 1980. ::—''Good early work, focuses mostly on Nishitani's relevance for the perspective of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.'' * James W. Heisig, John C. Maraldo (Ed.): "Rude Awakenings. Zen, the Kyoto School, & the Question of Nationalism", Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. ;Journal articles * "The Religious Philosophy of the Kyoto School: An Overview," by James Heisig. ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'' Vol.17, No.1 (1990), p51-81. * "Heidegger and Buddhism," by T. Umehara. ''Philosophy East and West'', Vol.20 (1970), p271-281. * "Nishida's Philosophy of 'Place'," by Masao Abe, ''International Philosophical Quarterly'' Vol.28, No.4 (Winter 1988), p. 355-371. * "In Memoriam: Keiji Nishitani (1900-1990)," by E. Kawamura-Hanoka. ''Buddhist-Christian Studies'', Vol.12 (1992), p241-245.


Readings by members

* For further information, see the Nanzan Institute'
Bibliography for all Kyoto School members
* Kitaro Nishida, ''An Inquiry into the Good'', translated by Masao Abe and Christopher Ives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987 (1921). * ——, ''Art and Morality'', translated by D. Dilworth and Valdo Viglielmo. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1973. * ——, ''Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness'', translated by Robert Schinzinger. Westport: 1958. * Tanabe, Hajime, "Demonstratio of Christianity", in ''Introduction to the philosophy of Tanabe: According to the English translation of the seventh chapter of the demonstration of Christianity'', translated by Makoto Ozaki, Rodopi Bv Editions, January 1990, ,, . * --, "The Logic of The Species as Dialectics," trns. David Dilworth; Taira Sato, in ''Monumenta Nipponica'', Vol. 24, No. 3, 1969, pp. 273–288. vailable as pdf through JSTOR* --, ''Philosophy as Metanoetics'' (Nanzan studies in religion and culture), Yoshinori Takeuchi, Valdo Viglielmo, and James W. Heisig (Translators), University of California Press, April 1987, . * Keiji Nishitani, ''Religion and Nothingness'', Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. * ——, ''The Self-overcoming of Nihilism'', translated by Graham Parkes and Setsuko Aihara. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990. * Yoshinori Takeuchi, ''The Heart of Buddhism'', translated by James Heisig. New York: 1983.


Secondary sources on members

*''Nishida Kitaro'', by Nishitani Keiji, translated by Yamamoto Sesaku and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. *''The Religious Philosophy of Tanabe Hajime'', edited by Taitetsu Unno and James Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. *''The Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji'', edited by Taitetsu Unno. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.


External links


Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
Discussion Paper by Xiaofei Tu in the ''electronic journal of contemporary Japanese studies'', 27 July 2006. {{philosophy topics Philosophical schools and traditions Japanese philosophy Kyoto University Empire of Japan