Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents

(Hardback)

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Providing translations of and commentaries on primary source materials of modern Japanese philosophy, this sourcebook centres on the creative philosophical writings of the Kyoto School broadly conceived, featuring the thought of Nishida Kitaro, Tanabe Hajime, Kuki Shuzo, Watsuji Tetsuro, Miki Kiyoshi, Tosaka Jun and Nishitani Keiji. The 22 selections include unabridged whole works, essays or chapters of books. Also included is exhaustive bio-bibliographical information as well as editorial commentary. For most scholars, this will be the first look in English at the thought of Kuki Shuzo, Miki Kiyoshi and the Marxist critic Tosaka Jun. Of interest to scholars, students and general readers interested in Asian philosophy. The selections show the intensely dialogic character of the philosophical writing of the Kyoto School of the early Showa period (1926-1949) and are of particular interest as representing philosophical strains of a "golden age" of Japanese thought during the war years between 1935 and 1945. In the interstices of the thought of the seven authors, the reader will find a mine of commentary on, and assimilation of, the schools of Western thought and the world's religions, accompanied (with the exception of the internationalist Tosaka Jun) by very resilient affirmations of the strength of Asian traditions.

Reviews

"This sourcebook is an excellent addition to many libraries because it brings hard-to-find materials into a readable and useful form....[it] can be used by students and general readers in order to understand a particularly interesting period of Japanese philosophy and its interaction with the West."-ARBA
"This sourcebook will be a boon to students and scholars who want to broaden their exposure to one of the world's most provocative traditions of twentieth-century thought....The enduring contribution of this sourcebook is that it helps make modern Japanese thought available even to those who cannot read the works in the original...[T]his sourcebook is a wonderful contribution to the growing interest in modern Japanese philosophy. Every library hoping to be at all "global" in its resources should include a copy....It is an important work and I hope it receives the attention and gratitude it deserves."-Journal of Japanese Studies
he Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy fills a void in the North American reception of Japanese philosophy. Bringing together works from seven of the most prominent Japanese thinkers of the twentieth century, it is one of the most fruitful periods of Japanese philosophical thought. Translated and edited by three outstanding scholars in the field, this volume comes out at a time when interest in Japanese and other non-Western philosophy is increasing dramatically.-Studies in Interreligious Dialogue
This book offers scholars and students of Japanese thought and culture an exceptionally valuable anthology of highly significant writings by the major representatives of the "Kyoto School" of philosophy....Undoubtedly this volume is a most distinguished contribution to the study of Asian philosophy and religion.-Pacific Affairs
This compact volume represents not only a great international collaborative effort of three scholars-translators who prepare these documents over many years, but it also presents a unique compilation of essays that previously have not been available in English....This book is highly recommended for academic libraries with collections on Asian philosophy or religion.-Reference & User Services Quarterly
This sourcebook is an excellent addition to many libraries because it brings hard-to-find materials into a readable and useful form....[it] can be used by students and general readers in order to understand a particularly interesting period of Japanese philosophy and its interaction with the West.-ARBA
This sourcebook will be a boon to students and scholars who want to broaden their exposure to one of the world's most provocative traditions of twentieth-century thought....The enduring contribution of this sourcebook is that it helps make modern Japanese thought available even to those who cannot read the works in the original...[T]his sourcebook is a wonderful contribution to the growing interest in modern Japanese philosophy. Every library hoping to be at all "global" in its resources should include a copy....It is an important work and I hope it receives the attention and gratitude it deserves.-Journal of Japanese Studies
"he Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy fills a void in the North American reception of Japanese philosophy. Bringing together works from seven of the most prominent Japanese thinkers of the twentieth century, it is one of the most fruitful periods of Japanese philosophical thought. Translated and edited by three outstanding scholars in the field, this volume comes out at a time when interest in Japanese and other non-Western philosophy is increasing dramatically."-Studies in Interreligious Dialogue
"This book offers scholars and students of Japanese thought and culture an exceptionally valuable anthology of highly significant writings by the major representatives of the "Kyoto School" of philosophy....Undoubtedly this volume is a most distinguished contribution to the study of Asian philosophy and religion."-Pacific Affairs
"This compact volume represents not only a great international collaborative effort of three scholars-translators who prepare these documents over many years, but it also presents a unique compilation of essays that previously have not been available in English....This book is highly recommended for academic libraries with collections on Asian philosophy or religion."-Reference & User Services Quarterly

Author Bio

DAVID A. DILWORTH is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. He is a specialist in the history of ideas, East and West, in modern Japanese philosophy and intellectual history, in comparative hermeneutics, and in American philosophy. He has written extensively in these areas of study. VALDO H. VIGLIELMO is Professor of Japanese literature at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has published numerous translations and studies in the area of modern Japanese literature and thought, especially those relating to the prominent novelist Natsume Soseki and to the major philosophers Nishida Kitaro and Tanabe Hajime. AGUSTIN JACINTO ZAVALA is Research Professor at the Centro de Estudios de las Tradiciones at the Colegio de Michoacan, A.C. He has written several books on the philosophy of Nishida Kitaro. Apart from his study in Japanese philosophy and culture, his other interests include music, the Tea Ceremony, and the practice of zazen and t'ai-chi. Volume 2 of his Textos de la Filosofia Japonesa: Antologia is forthcoming.