The concept of emptiness in Nishitani Keiji and the culmination of the phenomenological method

Abstract

Phenomenology has its historical origins in the work of Edmund Husserl. This author developed the phenomenological method, which aims to reach the “things themselves”. The development of the concept of phenomenology is further continued through the work of Nishitani Keiji. In the phenomenology of this author belonging to the so-called “Kyoto School”, one arrives at the understanding of the “thing itself” as emptiness. This essential concept of his thinking is analyzed in the first section of this article. The second section focuses on an analysis of the works of Dōgen and Meister Eckhart as well as their reception in the thought of Nishitani Keiji. These authors are paradigmatic examples of a type of thinking that cannot be framed within the Western and Eastern metaphysical and onto-theological traditions. In the third section, it is explained how the experience of emptiness culminates in the ultimate aspiration of phenomenology to reach the “things themselves”. Essential in this section is Nishitani’s confrontation with Heideggerian thought. Finally, in the last section, and by way of conclusion, a proposal is made regarding possible lines of research based on the developments by Heidegger and by Nishitani.

Keywords

• emptiness
• Nishitani
• Dōgen
• Meister Eckhart
• Heidegger