The Kyoto School is often understood as a “philosophy of nothingness.” This is not only because its two co-founders, Nishida Kitarō (1870-1945) and Tanabe Hajime (1885-1962), both constructed systematic philosophies around 1930 on the basis of the concept of absolute nothingness but also because their disciples likewise employed this concept. These philosophies of nothingness have often been interpreted in close connection with Buddhism, especially since both thinkers often referred to Buddhism in their writings. As a result, Kyoto School studies, particularly in Europe and North America, have tended to place emphasis on Buddhist elements and on the philosophy of religion of these thinkers. Yet such concerns were unrelated to the intention of Tosaka Jun (1900-1945), who was the first to give this group the name “Kyoto School.” What, then, is the Kyoto School? This lecture seeks to answer that question by focusing on the philosophical collaboration between Nishida and Tanabe in the 1910s, an aspect that has received little attention in previous scholarship. By examining their respective theories of pure experience, it clarifies the earliest form in which the Kyoto School began to take shape.

About the Lecturer: 

Satoshi Urai is Assistant Professor at the Hakubi Center for Advanced Research and the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Japan, and Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Humanities, Tallinn University, Estonia. He received his PhD from Kyoto University with a dissertation on Tanabe Hajime’s philosophy of religion and social ontology. He is the author of Tanabe Hajime: Philosophy, Social Reality, and Salvation (in Japanese, Kyoto University Press, 2024). His current research focuses on the formation of the Kyoto School, its approaches to social ontology, and the translation of works by Nishida and Tanabe into English and French.