was a Japanese

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

, and

Kyoto School The is the name given to the Japanese philosophical movement centered at Kyoto University that assimilated Western philosophy and religious ideas and used them to reformulate religious and moral insights unique to the East Asian cultural tradit ...

philosopher. He was a disciple of

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 ...

. In 1924 Nishitani received his doctorate from Kyoto Imperial University for his dissertation ''"Das Ideale und das Reale bei Schelling und Bergson"''. He studied under

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 ...

in Freiburg from 1937 to 1939.

Career

Nishitani held the principal Chair of Philosophy and Religion 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 = ...

from 1943 until becoming

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in 1964. He then taught philosophy and religion at Ōtani University. At various times Nishitani was a visiting professor in the United States and Europe. According to

James Heisig James Wallace Heisig (born 1944) is a philosopher who specialises in the field of philosophy of religion. He has published a number of books on topics ranging from the notion of God in analytical psychology, the Kyoto School of Philosophy (includi ...

, after being banned from holding any public position by the United States Occupation authorities in July 1946, Nishitani refrained from drawing "practical social conscience into philosophical and religious ideas, preferring to think about the insight of the individual rather than the reform of the social order."James W. Heisig. ''Philosophers of Nothingness''. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001. In James Heisig's ''Philosophers of Nothingness'' Nishitani is quoted as saying "The fundamental problem of my life … has always been, to put it simply, the overcoming of nihilism ''through'' nihilism."

Thought

On Heisig's reading, Nishitani's philosophy had a distinctive religious and subjective bent, drawing Nishitani close to

existentialists Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...

and mystics, most notably

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...

and

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart

Friedrich 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 ...

. Heisig argues that, unlike Nishida who had supposedly focused on building a philosophical system and who towards the end of his career began to focus on

political philosophy Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, ...

, Nishitani focused on delineating a standpoint "from which he could enlighten a broader range of topics," and wrote more on

Buddhist 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 ...

themes towards the end of his career. In works such as '' Religion and Nothingness'', Nishitani focuses on the Buddhist term

Śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā) pronounced in English as (shoon-ya-ta), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meani ...

(emptiness/nothingness) and its relation to Western

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 ...

. To contrast with the Western idea of nihility as the absence of meaning Nishitani's Śūnyatā relates to the acceptance of '' anatta'', one of the three Right Understandings in the Noble Eightfold Path and the rejection of the ego in order to recognize the

Pratītyasamutpāda ''Pratītyasamutpāda'' (Sanskrit: प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद, Pāli: ''paṭiccasamuppāda''), commonly translated as dependent origination, or dependent arising, is a key doctrine in Buddhism shared by all schools of ...

, to be one with everything. Stating: "All things that are in the world are linked together, one way or the other. Not a single thing comes into being without some relationship to every other thing." However, Nishitani always wrote and understood himself as a ''philosopher'' akin in spirit to Nishida insofar as the teacher—always bent upon fundamental problems of ordinary life—sought to revive a path of life walked already by ancient predecessors, most notably in the Zen tradition. Nor can Heisig's reading of Nishitani as "existentialist" convince in the face of Nishitani's critique of existentialism—a critique that walked, in its essential orientation, in the footsteps of Nishida's "Investigation of the Good" (Zen no Kenkyū). Among the many works authored by Nishitani in Japanese, are the following titles: ''Divinity and Absolute Negation'' (Kami to zettai Mu; 1948), ''Examining Aristotle'' (Arisutoteresu ronkō; 1948); ''Religion, Politics, and Culture'' (Shūkyō to seiji to bunka; 1949); ''Modern Society's Various Problems and Religion'' (Gendai shakai no shomondai to shūkyō; 1951); ''Regarding Buddhism'' (Bukkyō ni tsuite; 1982); ''Nishida Kitaro: The Man and the Thought'' (Nishida Kitarō, sono hito to shisō; 1985); ''The Standpoint of Zen'' (Zen no tachiba; 1986); ''Between Religion and Non-Religion'' (Shūkyō to hishūkyō no aida; 1996). His written works have been edited into a 26-volume collection ''Nishitani Keiji Chosakushū'' (1986-1995). A more exhaustive list of works is accessible on the Japanese version of the present wikipage.

List of works

''Collected Works'' ��谷啓治著作集26 vols. (Tokyo: Sōbunsha ��文社 1986–95) W CW1: ''Philosophy of Fundamental Subjectivity'', Vol. 1 ��源的主体性の哲学正(Tokyo: Kōbundō ��文堂 1940) * Part I: Religion and Culture ��教と文化:* ‘

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 ...

’s Zarathustra and

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart��学及び宗教とその歴史——波多野精一先生献呈論文集 Iwanami Shoten
September 1938
:* ‘Religion, History, Culture’ ��教・歴史・文化(''Tetsugaku Kenkyū'' ��学研究 No. 250, January 1937) :* ‘Modern Consciousness and Religion’ ��代意識と宗教(''Keizai Ōrai'' ��済往来 Vol. 10, No. 7, July 1935) :* ‘Modern European Civilisation and Japan’ ��世欧羅巴文明と日本(''Shisō'' ��想br>No. 215-16
April–May 1940) * Part II: History and Nature ��史と自然:* ‘Timeliness and Untimeliness in Morality’ ��徳における時代性と恒常性(''Risō'' ��想 No. 48, 1933) :* ‘The Historical and the Congenital’ ��史的なるものと先天的なるもの(''Shisō'' ��想br>No. 109-10
June–July 1931) :* ‘Patterns of Human Interpretation and Their Significance’ ��間解釈の類型性とその意義(''Risō'' ��想 No. 55-56, 1935) :* ‘Individuality and Universality in Life’ ��における個別と一般(''Ōtani Gakuhō'' ��谷学報 Vol. 12, No. 3, October 1931) CW2: Philosophy of Fundamental Subjectivity, Vol. 2 ��源的主体性の哲学続* Part III: Thought and Will ��惟と意志:* ‘On the Problem of Evil’ ��の問題について(''Tetsugaku Kenkyū'' ��学研究 No. 142, 1928) :* ‘ Schelling’s Identity Philosophy and the Will: The Real and the Ideal’ ��ェリングの同一哲学と意志——実在的なるものと観念的なるもの(''Tetsugaku Kenkyū'' ��学研究 No. 104-5, 1924) :* ‘Transcendentality of the Object: Spiritualism of No Spirit’ ��象の超越性——無心の唯心論(''Shisō'' ��想br>No. 44
June 1925) :* ‘

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 ...

’s Aesthetic Ideas: The Link between Intuition and Feeling’ ��ントの審美的理念——直観と感情との聯関(''Shisō'' ��想br>No. 51
January 1926) :* ‘Miscellaneous Thoughts on Religion’ ��教雑感(''Shisō'' ��想br>No. 77
March 1928) :* ‘Dialectic of Religious Existence’ ��教的実存の弁証法(''Shisō'' ��想br>No. 159-61
August–October 1935) CW3: Studies on Western Mysticism ��洋神秘思想の研究:* ‘A History of Mysticism’ ��秘思想史(''Iwanami Kōza: Tetsugaku'' ��波講座・哲学br>Vol. 4
1932) :* ‘Mysticism’s Ethical Thought’ ��秘主義の倫理思想(''Iwanami Kōza: Rinrigaku'' ��波講座・倫理学br>Vol. 14
1941) :* ‘The Problem of Mysticism’ ��秘主義の問題(''Tetsugaku Kenkyū'' ��学研究 No. 334, 1944) :* ‘Mysticism’ ��秘主義(''Gendai Kirisutokyō Kōza'' ��代キリスト教講座br>Vol. 4
1956) :* ‘

Plotinus Plotinus (; grc-gre, Πλωτῖνος, ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a philosopher in the Hellenistic tradition, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher wa ...

’ Philosophy’ ��ロティノスの哲学(Naganoken Suwa Tetsugakukai ��野県諏訪哲学会 Summer 1929) :* ‘The Problem of Evil in

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 ...

’ ��ウグスティヌスにおける悪の問題(''Tetsugaku'' ��学 Vol. 1, No. 3, 1946) :* ‘The Problem of Knowledge in

’ ��ウグスティヌスにおける知の問題(''Kirisutokyō Bunka'' ��督教文化br>No. 31
November 1948) :* ‘

and the Position of Contemporary Thought’ ��ウグスティヌスと現代の思想境位(''Kirisutokyō Bunka'' ��督教文化br>No. 34
March 1949) CW4: Contemporary Society’s Problems and Religion ��代社会の諸問題と宗教* Part I: Contemporary Society’s Problems and Religion ��代社会の諸問題と宗教:* ''Religion, Politics and Culture'' ��教と政治と文化(Kyoto: Hōzōkan ��蔵館 1949) :* ‘Problems of Contemporary Religion’ ��代における宗教の諸問題:* ''Contemporary Society’s Problems and Religion'' ��代社会の諸問題と宗教(Kyoto: Hōzōkan ��蔵館 1951) * Part II: Philosophy of World History and Historical Consciousness ��界史の哲学と歴史的意識:* ‘Philosophy of World History’ ��界史の哲学:* ''Worldview and Stateview'' ��界観と国家観(Tokyo: Kōbundō ��文堂 1941) :* ‘Historical Consciousness’ ��史的意識 CW5: ''

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 ...

Studies'' ��リストテレス論考(Tokyo: Kōbundō ��文堂 1948) * ‘Aristotle’s Theory of Sensation’ ��リストテレスの感性論* ‘Aristotle’s Theory of Imagination’ ��リストテレスの構想論* ‘Aristotle’s Theory of the Intellect’ ��リストテレスの理性論 CW6: Philosophy of Religion ��教哲学* ‘Prolegomena to Philosophy of Religion’ ��教哲学——序論* ‘Religion and Philosophy’ ��教と哲学* ‘Introduction to Philosophy of Religion’ ��教哲学——研究入門* ‘

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and Religion’ ��ルクシズムと宗教* ‘The Problem of Evil’ ��の問題* ‘Buddhism and Christianity’ ��教とキリスト教* ‘The Problem of Mythology’ ��話の問題* ‘The Transethical’ ��理を超えるもの* ‘Science and Religion’ ��学と宗教 CW7: God and the Absolute Nothing ��と絶対無* ''God and the Absolute Nothing'' ��と絶対無(Tokyo: Kōbundō ��文堂 1948) * ‘German Mysticism and German Philosophy’ ��イツ神秘主義とドイツ哲学 CW8: Nihilism ��ヒリズム* ''Nihilism'' ��ヒリズム(Tokyo: Kōbundō ��文堂 1949) * ‘Nihilism and Existence in

’ ��イチェにおけるニヒリズム＝実存* ''Russian Nihilism'' ��シアの虚無主義(Tokyo: Kōbundō ��文堂 1949) * ‘Problems of Atheism’ ��神論の問題 CW9: Nishida’s Philosophy and Tanabe’s Philosophy ��田哲学と田辺哲学* ''

Nishida Kitarō 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 ...

'' ��田幾多郎(Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō ��摩書房 1985) * ‘On Tanabe’s Philosophy’ ��辺哲学について* ‘Professor Tanabe’s Thought in His Final Years’ ��辺先生最晩年の思想 CW10: ''What Is Religion: Essays on Religion'', Vol. 1 ��教とは何か——宗教論集I(Tokyo: Sōbunsha ��文社 1961) * ‘What Is Religion’ ��教とは何か* ‘Personhood and Non-Personhood in Religion’ ��教における人格性と非人格性* ‘Nihil and

’ ��無と空* ‘The Position of

’ ��の立場* ‘

and Time’ ��と時* ‘

and History’ ��と歴史 CW11: ''The Standpoint of

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

: Essays on Religion'', Vol. 2 ��の立場——宗教論集II(Tokyo: Sōbunsha ��文社 1986) CW12: ''

Hanshan Hanshan may refer to: *Hanshan (poet) (寒山), a figure associated with a collection of poems from the Tang Dynasty *Hanshan Deqing (憨山德清), a Buddhist monk from the Chinese Ming Dynasty *''Mountain Cry'' (）, 2015 Chinese film PR China * ...

’s Poetry'' ��山詩(Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō ��摩書房 1986) CW13: Philosophical Studies ��学論考* ‘The Problem of Being and the Problem of Ontology’ ��在の問題と存在論の問題* ‘ Prajñā and Reason’ ��若と理性* ‘On

Satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of '' kenshō'', "seeing into one's true nature ...

’ ��覚」について* ‘

and Pṛthak’ ��と即* ‘ Schelling’s Absolute Idealism and

Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

’s Pure Duration’ ��ェリングの絶対的観念論とベルグソンの純粋持続* ‘A Brief Biography of Schelling’ ��ェリング略伝* ‘ Schelling and

: A Survey of Their Works’ ��ェリング及びベルグソン（著作解題） CW14: Lectures on Philosophy, Vol. 1 ��話哲学I CW15: Lectures on Philosophy, Vol. 2 ��話哲学II CW16: Lectures on Religion ��話宗教 CW17: Lectures on Buddhism ��話仏教 CW18: Lectures on

and Jōdo ��話禅と浄土 CW19: Lectures on Culture ��話文化 CW20: Occasional Essays, Vol. 1 ��想I CW21: Occasional Essays, Vol. 2 ��想II CW22: Lectures on ''

Shōbōgenzō is the title most commonly used to refer to the collection of works written in Japan by the 13th century Buddhist monk and founder of the Sōtō Zen school, Eihei Dōgen. Several other works exist with the same title (see above), and it is so ...

'', Vol. 1 ��法眼蔵講話I CW23: Lectures on ''

'', Vol. 2 ��法眼蔵講話II CW24: Lectures at

Ōtani University is a private Buddhist university in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Ōtani University is a coeducation institution with an emphasis on Buddhist studies. A two-year private junior college is associated with the university. The university is associated wit ...

, Vol. 1 ��谷大学講義I CW25: Lectures at

, Vol. 2 ��谷大学講義II CW26: Lectures at

, Vol. 3 ��谷大学講義III

English translations

Monographs * Nishitani Keiji. 1982. '' Religion and Nothingness''. Translated by

Jan Van Bragt Jan Van Bragt (1928–2007) was a scholar of Japanese religion and philosophy at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan, where he served as its first acting director in 1976. Biography Born in 1928 in Sint-Antonius-Br ...

. Berkeley: University of California Press. () * Nishitani Keiji. 1990. ''The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism''. Translated by Graham Parkes and Aihara Setsuko. Albany: State University of New York Press. * Nishitani Keiji. 1991. ''Nishida Kitarō''. Translated by Yamamoto Seisaku and James W. Heisig. Berkeley: University of California Press. * Nishitani Keiji. 2006. ''On Buddhism''. Translated by Yamamoto Seisaku and Robert E. Carter. Albany: State University of New York Press. * Nishitani Keiji. 2012. ''The Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji 1900-1990 - Lectures on Religion and Modernity''. Translated by Jonathan Morris Augustine and Yamamoto Seisaku. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press. () Articles * Nishitani Keiji. 1960. ”The Religious Situation in Present-day Japan.” ''Contemporary Religions in Japan'', 7-24. * Nishitani Keiji. 1984. ”Standpoint of Zen.” Translated by John C. Maraldo. ''The Eastern Buddhist'' 17/1, 1–26. * Nishitani Keiji. 1989. ”Encounter with Emptiness.” In ''The Religious Philosophy of Nishitani Keiji'' (edited by Taitetsu Unno). Jain Publishing Company. 1-4. * Nishitani Keiji. 1990. "Religious-Philosophical Existence in Buddhism." Translated by Paul Shepherd. ''The Eastern Buddhist'' (New Series) 23, 1-17. * Nishitani Keiji. 2004a. ”The Awakening of Self in Buddhism.” In ''The Buddha Eye - An Anthology of the Kyoto School and Its Contemporaries'' (edited by Frederick Franck). World Wisdom: Bloomington, Indiana. 11–20. * Nishitani Keiji. 2004b. ”The I-Thou Relation in Zen Buddhism.” In ''The Buddha Eye - An Anthology of the Kyoto School and Its Contemporaries'' (edited by Frederick Franck). World Wisdom: Bloomington, Indiana. 39–53. * Nishitani Keiji. 2004c. ”Science and Zen.” In ''The Buddha Eye - An Anthology of the Kyoto School and Its Contemporaries'' (edited by Frederick Franck). World Wisdom: Bloomington, Indiana. 107–135. * Nishitani Keiji. 2008. ”My Views on ”Overcoming Modernity”." In ''Overcoming Modernity - Cultural Identity in Wartime Japan'' (translated and edited by Richard Calichman). New York: Columbia University Press. 51-63.

Notes

References

, ''Philosophers of Nothingness'', Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nishitani, Keiji 1900 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Japanese philosophers Buddhism and other religions Buddhist existentialists Existentialists Japanese scholars of Buddhism Kyoto University alumni Academic staff of Kyoto University Kyoto School Ontologists People in interfaith dialogue Philosophers of nihilism Philosophers of religion