Convened by Takanobu Watabe and
Julius Geissler
In this reading group, we will discuss several works of Kyoto School philosophy, a school of thought that emerged in 20th-century Japan under the influence of European and American philosophy (especially German idealism, phenomenology, pragmatism) and East Asian religions (e.g., Zen Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism). Through a series of joint reading discussions, we aim to work together towards grasping the key ideas of the Kyoto School and their emergence in a cross-cultural space. We begin the reading group by looking at the first and most famous work of Kitaro Nishida (the founder of Kyoto School philosophy) “An Inquiry into the Good”, which demonstrates the world developed from “pure experience”. In the second session, we study Nishida’s “the Logic of Place” introduced in his article “Place”. The third work we dive into is “Clarifying the Meaning of the Logic of Species” where Hajime Tanabe, the first pupil of Nishida, discusses his social ontology as a criticism of Nishida’s philosophy. We finish our exploration by shedding light on the philosophy of human existence depicted by a Zen Buddhist philosopher Shin’ichi Hisamatsu in “Ultimate Crisis and Resurrection”.
In this way, the reading group aims to provide an overview through exemplary figures among the Kyoto school philosophers. We aim to bring together students of philosophy with different philosophical interests and backgrounds as well as members of various other departments with an interest in 20th-century philosophy and Japanese intellectual history. Given the syncretic style of Kyoto philosophy itself, we are certain that a diverse group of participants will greatly enrich the perspectives that we can together develop on these texts.
The reading group will be conducted in cooperation with Philiminality Oxford, a student-led organisation promoting cross-cultural philosophical projects at the University.
