Resumen de 哲学と生死の問題 日本哲学の意義と可能性をめぐって: [“Philosophy and the Problem of Life and Death: The Meaning and Potential of Japanese Philosophy”]
The meaning of Japanese philosophy may be thought to lie in its continued interest in the foundational problem of life and death and attempts to delve ever deeper into the matter. One may take Nishida Kitarō as a prototype of this pursuit. His speculations begin from the idea of clarifying true reality by clarifying the true form of the cosmos and human life. This approach did not change even in his middle period when he approached the subject in highly academic fashion. He held that both philosophy and religion represent the heart’s desire to arrive at an ultimate unity. This desire arrives at its final end in the extinguishing of the desire itself. We today are unable to share in this drive for ultimate unity. Science and technology have so taken it over that it is no longer at hand for us as individuals. In today’s world it is no longer possible to connect the desire for ultimate unity with the question of life and death. The path of awakening to its realization as absolute nothingness that Nishida laid out has been drained of its meaning for us today. As I see it, the challenge for philosophy is to thoroughly examine and lay bare the state of life and death in our times.
Delivered as a keynote address to the 5th Conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy, Nagoya, Japan, 29 August 2019.
