The Dialectics of Absolute Nothingness: The Legacies of German Philosophy in the Kyoto School

The Dialectics of Absolute Nothingness investigates the appropriations, critiques, and innovative interpretations of German philosophy by the Kyoto School, showing how central concepts of German philosophical traditions found a place within non-Western frameworks such as Zen and Pure Land Buddhism, thereby transcending the original Western context.

Kyoto School philosophers critically engaged with their own tradition and grappled with classical German philosophy from Kant to German Idealism and from Neo-Kantianism to German phenomenology. Far from mimicking the Western tradition, Nishida, Tanabe, Nishitani and other Japanese philosophers overcame their sense of alienation from European philosophy by making its concepts their own and advancing their ideas as a hybrid of European and Japanese philosophy through which they developed their own world historical perspective.

Showcasing the ways that Kyoto School philosophers internalized German philosophy and generated their own original perspectives, The Dialectics of Absolute Nothingness demonstrates the Kyoto School's potential for culturally diversifying the study of German philosophy and paves the way for the comprehensive study of Asian philosophy in European and global contexts.

© 2025 Cornell East Asia Series (Ebook): 9781501779008

Release date

Ebook: 15 February 2025