Summary
The past twenty years have seen the
publication of numerous translations and commentaries on the
principal philosophers of the Kyoto School, but so far no general
overview and evaluation of their thought has been available, either
in Japanese or in Western languages. James Heisig, a longstanding
participant in these efforts, has filled that gap with Philosophers
of Nothingness. In this extensive study, the ideas of Nishida
Kitaro, Tanabe Hajime, and Nishitani Keiji are presented both as a
consistent school of thought in its own right and as a challenge to
the Western philosophical tradition to open itself to the original
contribution of Japan.
