Kyoto School
Encyclopedia
The Kyoto School 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 tradition." However, it is also used to describe several postwar scholars from various disciplines 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 Nishida Kitaro, it survived the serious controversy it garnered after World War II 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
or Plato's Academy
. Instead, the group of academics gathered around Kyoto University as a de facto meeting place, and as 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
. Tosaka Jun (1900–45) considered himself to be part of the 'Marxist left-wing
' of the school. Afterwards, the media and other academic institutions outside of Japan began to use the moniker, and by the 1970s it had become a universal title - practically by default.
or Hegel, then there is no philosophy taking place in Japan. But if it is instead thought of in terms of the tradition carried out by Augustine
and Kierkegaard, then Japan has a rich philosophical history, composed of the great thinkers Kūkai
, Shinran
, Dogen
, and others.
The group of philosophers involved with the Kyoto School in its nearly 100 year history is a diverse one. Individual members often come from very different social backgrounds. At the same time, in the heat of intellectual they did not hesitate to criticise each others' work.
The following criteria roughly characterize the features of this school:
Generally, most were strongly influenced by the German philosophical tradition, especially the thought of Kant
, Hegel, Nietzsche
, and Heidegger
. In addition, many employed their cultural resources in formulating their philosophy and bringing it to play to add to the philosophical enterprise. However, while their work was not expressly religious it was informed significantly by it. For example, both Tanabe
and Keiji Nishitani wrote on Christianity
and Buddhism
and identified common elements between the two religions. For this reason, some scholars classify the intellectual products of the school as "religious philosophy."
Although the group was fluidic 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
for two years in Germany
, and returned to a teaching post since 1928. From 1955 to 1963, Nishitani officially occupied the Chair and since his departure, leadership of the school has crumbled - turning the movement into a very decentralized group of philosophers with common beliefs and common interests.
on professorships, and lectured to many groups on Buddhist-Christian relations.
In addition, although Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki
was closely connected to the Kyoto school and in some ways critical to the development of thought that occurred there—indeed, Suzuki personally knew Nishida, Tanabe, and Nishitani—he is not considered a true member of the group.
Nishida's work is notable for a few reasons, chief among them however is how much they are related to the German tradition of philosophy since Schopenhauer. 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
and the predicate logic
of Kant
, 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, but rather 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 or Hume
would indicate,
Before his death 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." By this Nishida means that, while the divine is dynamically paradoxical, it should not be construed as pantheism
or transcendent theism
. Both Nishitani and Abe spent much of their academic lives dedicated to this development of nothingness and the Absolute, leading on occasion to panentheism
.
, inherited from Nietzsche, and religious interpretation of nothingness, as found in the Buddhist idea of sunyata and the specifically Zen Buddhist concept of mu
.
Some western scholars think this criticism of the Kyoto School is inaccurate and spurious. They have shown that Tanabe
did not support the war effort and that Nishitani tried to organize intellectuals to question and criticize the growing militarism of the Tojo junta. This scholarly work attempts to provide an historical understanding of these thinkers' work in terms of opposition to western colonial imperialism at the same as the thinkers opposed fascist reactionary politics.
Kyoto University
, or is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, and formerly one of Japan's Imperial Universities.- History :...
that assimilated western philosophy
Western philosophy
Western philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies....
and religious ideas and used them to reformulate religious and moral insights unique to the East Asian cultural tradition." However, it is also used to describe several postwar scholars from various disciplines 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
The Kyoto University Research Centre for the Cultural Sciences
is one of Japan's leading institutions for research into the humanities and ethno-ecological studies. It has a distinctive school tradition, as heir to the philosophically-orientated Kyoto School, but differs from the latter in its broader cultural interests. Many of its leading scholars and...
.
Beginning roughly in 1913 with Nishida Kitaro, it survived the serious controversy it garnered after World War II 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
Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
or Plato's Academy
Platonic Academy
The Academy was founded by Plato in ca. 387 BC in Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years before founding his own school, the Lyceum. The Academy persisted throughout the Hellenistic period as a skeptical school, until coming to an end after the death of Philo of Larissa in 83 BC...
. Instead, the group of academics gathered around Kyoto University as a de facto meeting place, and as 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
Hajime Tanabe
was a Japanese philosopher of the Kyoto School. In 1947 he became a member of The Japan Academy, in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit, and in 1957 an honorary doctorate from University of Freiburg....
. Tosaka Jun (1900–45) considered himself to be part of the 'Marxist left-wing
Neo-Marxism
Neo-Marxism is a loose term for various twentieth-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, usually by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions, such as: critical theory, psychoanalysis or Existentialism .Erik Olin Wright's theory of contradictory class...
' of the school. Afterwards, the media and other academic institutions outside of Japan began to use the moniker, and by the 1970s it had become a universal title - practically by default.
History
Masao Abe writes in his introduction to a new English translation of Nishida's magnum opus, that if one thinks of philosophy in terms of KantImmanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
or Hegel, then there is no philosophy taking place in Japan. But if it is instead thought of in terms of the tradition carried out by Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
and Kierkegaard, then Japan has a rich philosophical history, composed of the great thinkers Kūkai
Kukai
Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....
, Shinran
Shinran
was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino at the turbulent close of the Heian Period and lived during the Kamakura Period...
, Dogen
Dogen
Dōgen Zenji was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there...
, and others.
The group of philosophers involved with the Kyoto School in its nearly 100 year history is a diverse one. Individual members often come from very different social backgrounds. At the same time, in the heat of intellectual they did not hesitate to criticise each others' work.
The following criteria roughly characterize the features of this school:
- Teaching at Kyoto University or at a nearby affiliated school
- Share some basic assumptions about using Asian thought in the framework of western philosophical tradition.
- Introduce and rationally investigate the meaning of "nothingness" and its importance in the history of philosophical debate.
- Expand on the philosophical vocabulary introduced by Nishida.
Generally, most were strongly influenced by the German philosophical tradition, especially the thought of Kant
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
, Hegel, Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
, and Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
. In addition, many employed their cultural resources in formulating their philosophy and bringing it to play to add to the philosophical enterprise. However, while their work was not expressly religious it was informed significantly by it. For example, both Tanabe
Hajime Tanabe
was a Japanese philosopher of the Kyoto School. In 1947 he became a member of The Japan Academy, in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit, and in 1957 an honorary doctorate from University of Freiburg....
and Keiji Nishitani wrote on Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and identified common elements between the two religions. For this reason, some scholars classify the intellectual products of the school as "religious philosophy."
Although the group was fluidic 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
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
for two years in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and returned to a teaching post since 1928. From 1955 to 1963, Nishitani officially occupied the Chair and since his departure, leadership of the school has crumbled - turning the movement into a very decentralized group of philosophers with common beliefs and common 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 traveled to both coasts of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on professorships, and lectured to many groups on Buddhist-Christian relations.
In addition, although Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki
Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature...
was closely connected to the Kyoto school and in some ways critical to the development of thought that occurred there—indeed, Suzuki 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 and later for his elucidation of the "logic of basho" (Japanese: 場所; usually translated as "place," or the Greek topos) - which brought him fame outside of 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 however is how much they are related to the German tradition of philosophy since Schopenhauer. 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
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
and the predicate logic
Predicate logic
In mathematical logic, predicate logic is the generic term for symbolic formal systems like first-order logic, second-order logic, many-sorted logic or infinitary logic. This formal system is distinguished from other systems in that its formulae contain variables which can be quantified...
of Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
, 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, but rather 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 or Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
would indicate,
Before his death 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." By this Nishida means that, while the divine is dynamically paradoxical, it should not be construed as pantheism
Pantheism
Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Greek meaning "all" and the Greek meaning "God". As such, Pantheism denotes the idea that "God" is best seen as a process of...
or transcendent theism
Transtheism
Transtheistic is a term coined by philosopher Paul Tillich or Indologist Heinrich Zimmer, referring to a system of thought or religious philosophy which is neither theistic, nor atheistic....
. Both Nishitani and Abe spent much of their academic lives dedicated to this development of nothingness and the Absolute, leading on occasion to panentheism
Panentheism
Panentheism is a belief system which posits that God exists, interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it...
.
Keiji Nishitani
Nishitani, one of Nishida's main disciples, would become the doyen in the post-war period. Nishitani's works, such as his Religion and Nothingness, primarily dealt with the Western notion of nihilismNihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
, inherited from Nietzsche, and religious interpretation of nothingness, as found in the Buddhist idea of sunyata and the specifically Zen Buddhist concept of mu
Mu (negative)
or Wu , is a word which has been translated variously as "not", "nothing", "without", "nothingness", "non existent", "non being", or evocatively simply as "no thing"...
.
Criticism of the Kyoto School
Today, there is a great deal of critical research into the school's role prior to and during the Second World War. 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 ideology and propaganda. 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.Some western scholars think this criticism of the Kyoto School is inaccurate and spurious. They have shown that Tanabe
Hajime Tanabe
was a Japanese philosopher of the Kyoto School. In 1947 he became a member of The Japan Academy, in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit, and in 1957 an honorary doctorate from University of Freiburg....
did not support the war effort and that Nishitani tried to organize intellectuals to question and criticize the growing militarism of the Tojo junta. This scholarly work attempts to provide an historical understanding of these thinkers' work in terms of opposition to western colonial imperialism at the same as the thinkers opposed fascist reactionary politics.
Members
- Kitaro Nishida: 1870 - 1945 (KU Philosophy Dept. 1910-13, Chair 1913-28)
- Hajime TanabeHajime Tanabewas a Japanese philosopher of the Kyoto School. In 1947 he became a member of The Japan Academy, in 1950 he received the Order of Cultural Merit, and in 1957 an honorary doctorate from University of Freiburg....
: 1885 - 1962 (KU Philosophy Dept. ?, Chair, 1928-35?) - Keiji Nishitani: 1900 - 1990 (KU Philosophy Dept. 1928-35, Chair 1935-63)
- Masao Abe
- Miki KiyoshiMiki Kiyoshiwas a Japanese philosopher.- Biography :Miki was a native of what is now part of Tatsuno, Hyōgo. He studied philosophy under Nishida Kitarō and Tanabe Hajime at the Kyoto Imperial university. Later he went to Germany, to study the work of Martin Heidegger, Blaise Pascal, Søren Kierkegaard and...
- Hisamatsu ShinichiHisamatsu Shinichiwas a philosopher, Zen Buddhist scholar, and Japanese tea ceremony master. He was also a professor at Kyoto University and received an honorary doctoral degree from Harvard University.-Biography:...
- Shizuteru UedaShizuteru Uedais a Japanese philosopher specializing in philosophy of religion.The son of a Buddhist priest, he studied philosophy at Kyoto University where his mentor Keiji Nishitani oriented his studies toward medieval mystics. He then went to Germany where he received a Ph.D. degree from the University of...
- Saneshige Komaki
- Yamanouchi Tokuryu
- Takeuchi Yoshinori
Suggested reading
- 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, on Zen and Pure Land Buddhism.
- Kyoto School Philosophy: A Call for a Paradigm Shift in Philosophical Thoughthttp://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/Bulletin_and_Shoho/pdf/16-Horo.pdf, 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. ISBN 0-8248-2481-4
- —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", Honololu: 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 individual members
-
- For further information, see the Nanzan Institute's Complete 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 demonstratio of Christianity, translated by Makoto Ozaki, Rodopi Bv Editions, January 1990, ISBN 90-5183-205-2,ISBN 978-90-5183-205-1, .
- --, "The Logic of The Species as Dialectics," trns. David Dilworth; Taira Sato, in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 24, No. 3, 1969, pp. 273-288. [Available 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, ISBN 0-520-05490-3.
- Keiji Nishitani, Religion and Nothingness, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. ISBN 0-520-04946-2
- ——, The Self-overcoming of Nihilism, translated by Graham Parkes and Setsuko Aiharo. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.
- Yoshinori Takeuchi, The Heart of Buddhism, translated by James Heisig. New York: 1983.
- For further information, see the Nanzan Institute's Complete Bibliography for all Kyoto School members
Secondary sources on individual 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 UnnoTaitetsu UnnoRev Taitetsu Unno is a scholar, lecturer, and author on the subject of Pure Land Buddhism. His work as a translator has been responsible for making many important Buddhist texts available to the English-speaking world and he is considered one of the leading authorities in the United States on Shin...
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
- The Fascist Next Door? Nishitani Keiji and the Chuokoron Discussions in Perspective, Discussion Paper by Xiaofei Tu in the electronic journal of contemporary Japanese studies, 27 July 2006.