From Epistemology to the Standpoint of “Love”: Nishida Kitarō’s Experience Theory and the Zen Logic of Prajñāpāramitā

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, I will explain the characteristics of “pure experience” in Nishida Kitarō’s philosophy. This pure experience was a very fundamental concept in Nishida’s philosophy, and was an important thought that was consistently at the core of his philosophy from the beginning through his later years. In his important work, An Inquiry into the Good, Nishida uses “the moment of seeing the color or hearing a sound …” as the initial perception to explain the only reality that developed into many categories by the self-developing characteristics of pure experience. Thus, he discusses “knowing” and “love.” At the very same time, Suzuki Daisetz (D.T. Suzuki) explains the same topic by using the “logic of Prajñāpāramitā.” The “logic of Prajñāpāramitā” states that everything that is affirmative is negative at the same time. It is generally believed that this “logic of Prajñāpāramitā” is very similar to the characteristics of the pure experience mentioned above. The reason for comparing these thoughts was that Kitarō Nishida and D. T. Suzuki were close friends and exchanged ideas with each other. Therefore, to understand Nishida’s “pure experience” and early philosophy thoroughly, the author has also examined the “logic of Prajñāpāramitā.”