Nishida on God, Barth and Christianity

Author: Rigsby, Curtis

Source: Asian Philosophy, Volume 19, Number 2, July 2009 , pp. 119-157(39)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

Despite the central role that the concept of God played in Kitarō Nishida's philosophy—and more broadly, within the Kyoto School which formed around Nishida—Anglophone studies of the religious philosophy of modern Japan have not seriously considered the nature and role of God in Nishida's thought. Indeed, relevant Anglophone studies even strongly suggest that where the concept of God does appear in Nishida's writings, such a concept is to be dismissed as a 'subjective fiction', a 'penultimate designation', or a peripheral Western intrusion with no genuine relationship to the core of Nishida's thought. However, a careful study of Nishida's own writings reveals that for Nishida, in his own words, God is 'that which is indispensable and decisive'. For the first time in English, this present study reveals Nishida's view of God, especially examining Nishida's debt to the theologian Karl Barth and Christianity.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/09552360902943761

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