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The Religious Philosophy of Nishitani
Keiji
ENCOUNTER WITH EMPTINESS
Fremont, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1990. $50 cloth / $25 paper
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This collection
is based on an international conference held at Smith College in April
1984. In it representative scholars Buddhist and Christian—including
Abe Masao, Jan Van Bragt, Langdon Gilkey, Thomas Altizer, Gordon Kaufman,
Sten Stenson, Steven Rockefeller, Robert Thurman, and Thomas Kasulis—grapple
with the implications of Nishitani’s thinking for the modern world,
particularly as it relates to the question of God, problems of science
and ethics, the meaning of history, and the understanding of Buddhism.
| "A great deal of
the attractiveness of Nishitani stems from the unique synthesis
of personality and thought which he embodies…. While such
a synthesis of religion and philosophy, of personality and thought,
is truly rare even in contemporary East Asia, we find Nishitani
personifying the traditional Asian legacy of knowing-as-becoming
which cannot help but appeal to the whole person, both intellectual
and affective. “Nishitani’s is a voice coming from outside
the Western tradition to critically discuss Western religious
and philosophical thinkers and in the process offer new insight
into their contributions. Always grounding his analysis in the
real concerns affecting the contemporary situation, …Nishitani
invites us all, practitioners as well as scholars, to explore
the meaning of what we are doing and saying." |
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— from the Editor's Introduction
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Taitetsu UNNO, before his retirement,
was Jill Ker Conway Professor of Religion and East Asian Studies
and Director of the East Asian Studies Program at Smith College
in Northampton, Massachusetts.
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