Nishida and Royce

Abstract

Nishida's philosophy is an exemplary case of the struggle for a synthesis of Western content and Oriental form. Nishida's view is particularly significant in this respect in that he was perhaps the first Japanese philosopher to import Western philosophy and to reinterpret it with freshness and force in the framework of Oriental thinking. Through his voluminous writings and personal influence, Nishida founded the so-called Kyoto school of philosophy at Kyoto University. This school has virtually dominated the philosophical climate of Japan for the past fifty years. Unlike many modern Japanese scholars, Nishida never studied abroad. Nevertheless, he was thoroughly familiar with the philosophical works of important Western thinkers. He is generally regarded in Japan as the most original philosopher Japan has produced in recent years--original in that he, absorbing all the complexities of Western philosophy, attempted to give it an Oriental flavor, thus curiously combining Buddhism with Christian mysticism and Confucian ethics with German idealism. His originality is also seen in his ability to handle philosophical problems in his own terms. He was through and through a post-Kantian in spirit, however, and he is generally classified as a neo-Hegelian. His thinking is highly speculative and dialectical, and his style is as abstruse as that of Fichte or Hegel. Although his writings are difficult and complex, the frequent repetition of his main thesis helps the reader follow the structure of his thought; and his poetic insights and literary forcefulness are refreshing. Kitaro Nishida was born in 1870 in a village in Ishikawa Prefecture. After studying at Kanazawa Higher School, from which he did not graduate, and Tokyo University, from which he graduated as a special student, he taught for ten years at the Fourth Higher School at Kanazawa. He was appointed professor of philosophy at Kyoto Imperial University in 1910, and remained there until his retirement in 1930. After his retirement, his philosophical activity was so vigorous that about two-thirds of his works were written between that time and his death in 1945. Nishida was, from his youth, deeply interested in Zen Buddhism and frequently visited Buddhist temples for instruction and meditation. In the following excerpts from the diary of his youth, it is evident that he was