Nishida, Kitaro

In 1894 he graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in Philosophy.

From 1896 to 1904, he practiced Zen in several Zen monasteries as a lay student. In 1903, Zen master Rinzai Koju Sotaku confirmed that Kitaro Nishida had reached the original satori (kensho) ^[1] .

In 1899, he was identified as a professor at the Four Higher Schools of Ishikawa . He later became a professor of philosophy at Kyoto University .

In 1927, he retired. In 1940 he was awarded the Order of Culture .

Died of a kidney infection.

Kitaro Nishida had a significant influence on the development of modern Japanese philosophy . His attempt to combine Western methodology and terminology with Eastern ideas is still relevant today. In Western European philosophy, his worldview was influenced by German classical philosophy and phenomenology of Husserl , the closely apophatic theology of Meister Eckhart , Eriugena , Nikolai Kuzansky . From modern directions, his views are closest to existentialism .

Nishida was convinced that on the path to truth a joint consideration of the issues of philosophy and religion was necessary, as an example he pointed to Indian and ancient Greek philosophy. Nishida's original philosophy includes the ideas of both Zen Buddhism and Western thought. According to his concept (Basho logic), the opposition of the objective and subjective is overcome in a special way of self-awareness, a kind of struggle of opposites, which, unlike Hegel’s dialectic, is not allowed by their synthesis, but rather determines the subject’s ability to maintain internal conflict, to reach opposite poles and perspectives . He also proved the difference between Western philosophy and Eastern philosophy by the presence in the last idea of ​​non-being, which he interprets from the perspective of Zen Buddhism as an all-encompassing universe.

One of the key concepts of Nishida's philosophy is self- realization ( jikaku , 自 覚). It is achieved through the interaction of intuition ( tekkan , 直 観) and reflection ( hansei , 反省).

• Zenshu (Complete Works), vols. 1–18, Tokyo, 1947–53.
  • Exploring the Good ( Zen-no Kenkyu - 1911)
  • Intuition and reflection in self- realization ( Jikaku nor okeru tekkan then hansei - 1917)

• Karelova L. B. Key worldview problems in Japanese philosophy of the 20th century (historical and philosophical essays) / Otv. ed. S.V. Chugrov. - M .: IF RAS , 2017 .-- 163 p. - ISBN 978-5-9540-0325-3 .
• Kozlovsky, Yu. B. Nisida Kitaro // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Kozlovsky Yu. B. The main question of philosophy in the interpretation of the Japanese bourgeois philosopher Nishida Kitaro. // Philosophical sciences . - 1963. - No. 2.
• Bezrukov I.V. Archived copy (neopr.) . Date of treatment December 25, 2010. Archived October 2, 2015. . Nishida Kitaro: A Comparative Analysis of Japanese and Western Philosophy Abstract ... candidate of philosophical sciences: 09.00.03 / Bezrukov Ivan Vyacheslavovich; [Place of protection: St. Petersburg. state un-t]. - St. Petersburg, 2010 .-- 23 p.
• Solonin K. Yu. Heidegger and Japanese Philosophy / Nishida Kitaro
• Mikhalev A. A. Problems of culture in Japanese philosophy. K. Nishida and T. Watsuji. - M.: IF RAS , 2010 .-- 77 p.

• Nishida Kitaro - article at Stanford Philosophical Encyclopedia
• Nishida Kitaro. Essay on the Interpretation of Beauty