Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness

While the history of Japanese metaphysical speculation, based on peculiarly Asian religious experiences, goes to the eleventh century, Japanese philosophy as organized in accordance with Western concepts and assumptions is barely a century old. Ever since they came in contact with the culture and philosophy of the West, Japanese thinkers have considered it their task to search for a harmonious integration of two philosophical worlds; to reformulate, in the categories of an alien Western philosophy, the philosophical insights of their own past. To have outlined one phase within this historical design is the achievement of Kitaro Nishida (1870-1945).
Nishida has written extensively on philosophy and his complete works fill twelve volumes. The present work consists of translations of three of his studies that all belong to a comparatively late phase in his development. Nishida has said of himself: “I have always been a miner of ore; I have never managed to refine it.” The absence of a last systematic refinement may indeed be felt by the reader of the present selection. Still, the reader may be impressed by the strangely new experience of life here encountered, whether his heart is moved or his mind is made to think. Nishida uses Western concepts to express his philosophical reflection. The reader may not always perceive this, however, since Nishida’s basic experience, with Zen at its center, cannot properly be formulated in Western terms and needs the structure of a new philosophical theory. The approach to his thought is, therefore, not easy. Yet we are convinced that Nishida’s philosophy can open a new way towards the mutual understanding of East and West. In the hope of contributing to this mutual comprehension, upon which a new philosophy of mankind can be erected, we venture to offer the present publication to Western readers.