This book presents the first collection of essays on the philosophy of Ueda Shizuteru in a Western language. Ueda, the last living member of the Kyoto school, has fostered the East-West dialogue in all his works and has helped to open up the Western image of philosophy by engaging the Zen tradition. The book reflects this particular trait of Ueda's philosophy, but it also covers all thematic fields of his writings. Contributions from both young and established scholars and experts from Japan, Europe and the U.S. make this a unique introduction to and reception of Ueda's philosophy. Readers will discover discussions of mysticism in the East and West, and consideration of modern philosophy topics including self-awareness, nature and poetic language. The book also presents a focussed look at language and nothingness, considering silence and nihilism. Chapters allow the reader to understand the timeliness of a thinking that mediates and transcends the dichotomy of East and West. This volume will appeal not only to scholars of Nishida, Japanese philosophy, mysticism and religious experience in Japan, but also to scholars of Western philosophy, especially those interested in Meister Eckhart, Martin Heidegger and Martin Buber. It makes an ideal introduction to Zen philosophy and presents important contributions to scholarship on language and experience.

Autorentext

Raquel Bouso García is an Associate Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, where she received her PhD with a thesis on the notion of emptiness in the thought of Nishitani Keiji. She has translated into Spanish works by Nishitani Keiji, Ueda Shizuteru, and Toshihiko Izutsu, along with other books on Japanese philosophy. She published El zen (Catalan 2008, Spanish 2012) and has coordinated the Spanish translation of Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook, edited by James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis, and John C. Maraldo (University of Hawai'i Press, 2011).

Ralf Müller is a Research Fellow at the Hildesheim University (Germany). He received his PhD at Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany) and worked as an Alexander von Humboldt fellow for two years at Kyoto University (Japan). Müller is specialized in Japanese philosophy, philosophy of culture, philosophy of language with particular interest in Zen Buddhist thought and the works of Wilhelm von Humboldt and Erns t Cassirer.

Adam Loughnane is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at University College Cork in Ireland, where he is the Director of the Irish Institute of Japanese Studies. Adam specializes in East-West comparative aesthetics and phenomenology. His research and writings place Continental European thought in dialogue with the Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy. In this intercultural context, Adam has published and presented works internationally on issues of language, artistic expression, performance, motor-perception, volition, and non-theistic conceptions of faith.

Inhalt

Part 1. Introduction.- Chapter 1. Introduction to Ueda (I) (Ueda Shizuteru).- Chapter 2. Introduction to Ueda (II) (Bret W. Davis).- Part 2. Mysticism East and West.- Chapter 3. Ueda, Reader of Eckhart (Bernard Stevens).- Chapter 4. Ueda's Interpretation of the Ten Ox-herding Pictures (Gereon Kopf).- Chapter 5. Ueda's Nishida and Heidegger Synthesis (John Krummel).- Chapter 6. Ueda and Buber (Raquel Bouso).- Part 3. Dialogue with Modern Philosophy.- Chapter 7. Self Awareness and Transcendental Reflection (Ishihara Yuko).- Chapter 8. The Double Being-in-the-World and Nature (Ota Hironobu).- Chapter 9. On Poetic Language (Adam Loughnane).- Chapter 10. On >IThou