Nishida Kitaro

Nishida Kitaro (西田 幾多郎 Nishida Kitarō; 1870, Ishikawa Prefecture – 1945) was a prominent Japanese philosopher, founder of what has been called the Kyoto School of philosophy. He graduated from The University of Tokyo during the Meiji Era in 1894 with a degree in philosophy. He was named professor of the Fourth High School of Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1899 and later became professor of philosophy at Kyoto University. Nishida retired in 1927. Later in his retirement, in 1940, he was awarded the Cultural Medal of Honor. Nishida Kitaro died at the age of seventy-five of a renal infection. His grave is located at Reiun'in, a temple in the Myoshin-ji compound in Kyoto. Image File history File links Nishida_kitaro. ... Image File history File links Nishida_kitaro. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県 Ishikawa-ken) is located in the Chubu region on Honshu island, Japan. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... The Kyoto School was a philosophical movement primarily active in the first half of the 20th century. ... The University of Tokyo (東京大学; Tōkyō Daigaku, abbreviated as 東大 Tōdai) is one of the leading research universities in Japan. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Meiji period (Japanese: Meiji Jidai 明治時代 ) (1868–1912... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Philosopher in Meditation (detail), by Rembrandt Philosophy is a field of study that includes diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics, in which people ask questions such as whether God exists, whether knowledge is possible, and what makes actions right or wrong. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Yamaguchi Prefecture (山口県 Yamaguchi-ken) is located in the Chugoku region on Honshu island, Japan. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Clocktower Kyoto University (Japanese: 京都大学, Kyōto Daigaku; abbreviated to 京大, Kyōdai) in Kyoto, Japan, is the second oldest university and one of leading research universities in the country, having a total of roughly 22,000 students. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Kidneys viewed from behind with spine removed The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. ... Infection is also the title of an episode of the television series Babylon 5, and the English title of the Japanese film Kansen. ... The Angkor Wat Hindu temple in Cambodia is the largest in the world. ... Taizo-in at Myoshin-ji Myōshin-ji is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan. ... Kyoto Hall Mayor Yorikane Masumoto Address 〒604-8571 Kyoto-shi, Nakagyo-ku, Teramachi-Oike, 488 Phone number 075-222-3111 Official website: Kyoto City This page is about the city Kyoto. ...

Philosophy

Having been born in the third year of the Meiji Era, Nishida was presented with a newly unique opportunity to contemplate eastern philosophical issues in the fresh light that western philosophy shined on them. Nishida's original and creative philosophy, incorporating ideas of both Zen and western philosophy, was aimed at bringing the East and West closer. Throughout his lifetime, Nishida published a number of books and essays including An Inquiry into the Good and "The Logic of the Place of Nothingness and the Religious Worldview." Taken as a whole, Nishida’s life work was the foundation for the Kyoto School of Philosophy and the inspiration for the original thinking of his disciples. The most famous concept in Nishida's philosophy is the logic of basho (Japanese: 場所; usually translated to other languages as place or topos). History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Meiji period (Japanese: Meiji Jidai 明治時代 ) (1868–1912... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Western philosophy is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in Ancient Greece, and including the predominant philosophical thinking of Europe and its former colonies, and continues to this day. ... Bodhidharma, woodcut print by Yoshitoshi, 1887. ... The Kyoto School was a philosophical movement primarily active in the first half of the 20th century. ...

Notable disciples

• Tanabe Hajime
• Nishitani Keiji

Nishitani Keiji (西谷 啓治 Nishitani Keiji, 1900, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan - 1990) was one of Nishida Kitaros disciples and part of the Kyoto School of Philosophy. ...

References

Partial bibliography

• An Inquiry Into the Good (ISBN 0-300-052332-), Nishida Kitaro, Translated by Masao Abe and Christopher Ives
• Last Writings (ISBN 0-824-81554-8), Nishida Kitaro, Translated by David Dilworth

Secondary resources

• Zen & Philosophy: An Intellectual Biography of Nishida Kitaro (ISBN 0-824-82459-8), Michiko Yusa
• Philosophers of Nothingness (ISBN 0-824-82481-4), James Heisig
• Nishida Kitaro (ISBN 0-520-073649-), Nishitani Keiji
• The Logic Of Nothingness: A Study Of Nishida Kitaro (ISBN 0-824-82969-7), Robert J. J. Wargo

James W. Heisig is a writer. ... Nishitani Keiji (西谷 啓治 Nishitani Keiji, 1900, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan - 1990) was one of Nishida Kitaros disciples and part of the Kyoto School of Philosophy. ...

External links

• entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy