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Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook

James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis and John C. Maraldo (eds) · 2011 · Long (over 350 pages)

4.3 from 3 reviews · 49 views

Existence & beingJapanese & KoreanChan & ZenKyoto School
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What it is

A very large anthology of Japanese philosophical writing in English translation, running to well over a thousand pages. The editors and many translators present selections from the earliest periods to the twentieth century, organised by tradition and theme: Buddhist thinkers such as Kūkai, Dōgen and Shinran; Confucian and Neo-Confucian scholars; Shinto and nativist thought; and modern academic philosophy, including the Kyoto School figures Nishida Kitarō, Tanabe Hajime and Nishitani Keiji alongside Watsuji Tetsurō and Kuki Shūzō. Further sections gather writing on themes such as culture and identity, aesthetics, and women philosophers. Each section and selection has an introduction placing the text in context, and the volume includes a glossary and other reference material. Many of the texts had never been translated before.

Why read it

It is the one book that lets readers sample the whole range of Japanese philosophy in the thinkers' own words.

Where to start

Use it as a reference: read the general introduction, then the section on the tradition or thinker you are curious about.

Reviews

  1. Rin Matsuda

    I looked up Kuki Shūzō on iki and stayed for the section on aesthetics. The introductions are clear and the translations readable, and I found writers on everyday beauty I now borrow from in my drawings. It is too heavy to carry anywhere, which is my only complaint.

  2. Aiko Tanabe

    I came to Nishida through zazen and this book showed me the rest of the landscape. The Kyoto School section is excellent, but what surprised me were the Confucian and nativist writers I had never heard of. It is enormous; I read it like a library, a few pages at a time.

  3. Kenneth Leung Chi-ho

    Indispensable for comparative work. The editors resist the habit of reducing Japanese philosophy to Zen, which is its great virtue. Some translations are better than others, as you would expect in a volume with so many hands, but the Yogācāra-influenced Buddhist selections were a welcome surprise for my own work.