Philosophers of Nothingness: an Essay on the Kyoto School. By James W. Heisig. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2001. Pp. xi + 380. ISBN 0-8248-2480-6 (paperback), US $21.95 + 305 pages, ISBN 0-86171-307-9 (paperback), US $34.95.
關鍵詞
Zen=禪宗=Zen Buddhism=Zazen Buddhism=Chan Buddhism=Son Buddhism; Pure Land=淨土; Japanese Buddhist history=日本佛教史
摘要
This book is the first comprehensive work addressing the philosophy of the scholars who constitute what has come to be known as the Kyoto School in Japan. This movement spanned the time period of the early 1900s until the end of WWII. Comprised of Nishida Kitaro，Tanabe Hajime，and Nishitani Keiji，who succeeded each other in the same chair，the Kyoto School was a movement whose influence has recently been the subject of much debate and scrutiny. (1) Heisig's book documents the school's major scholarly contributions as well as explicating the complicated interface between European continental philosophy and works of these philosophers. This book will be of interest to anyone involved in the study of continental philosophy，particularly phenomenology，as well as those interested in Zen and Pure Land Buddhism. In addition，the book is an interesting historical chronicle in that it documents the opening of Japan's borders to the West and the subsequent Japanese academic response to Western ideas.
