About the Author

James W. Heisig is a permanent research fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan.

Reviews

Heisig's book stands out as one of the most insightful and fascinating studies of the philosophies of the Kyoto school that simultaneously contributes to scholarship on and functions as an introduction to the philosophies of nothingness.-- "H-Net Reviews"

This book will be of interest to anyone involved in the study of continental philosophy, particularly phenomenology, as well as those interested in Zen and Pure Land Buddhism. In addition, the book is an interesting historical chronicle in that it documents the opening of Japan's borders to the West and the subsequent Japanese academic response to Western ideas.-- "Journal of Buddhist Ethics"

A formidable research resource.... After the impressive rigor displayed in the collection of essays he published with John C. Maraldo in 1994, under the title Rude Awakenings: Zen, the Kyoto School, & the Question of Nationalism, Heisig has now presented Japan studies with his most compelling achievement to date. He has won new glory for the discipline. We are in his debt.-- "Japan Times"

A signal achievement. Heisig weaves biographical narrative, contextual elaboration, philosophical explication, and critical analysis effortlessly (it appears), resulting in a fascinating and absorbing reading experience.-- "Buddhist-Christian Studies"

A very good book ... no small contribution to making the philosophies of nothingness simply compelling-- "Philosophy East and West"

Excellent ... firmly situates Nishida in conversation with two other major Kyoto School figures: Tanabe Hajime and Nishitani Keiji-- "Religious Studies Review"

Long-awaited ... certain to remain a reference point for future studies, not only about Japanese intellectual history, but also about the vast and heterogeneous phenomenon of interreligious dialogue, as well as the history of world philosophy-- "Buddhist Studies Review"

Magisterial-- "Japanese Journal of Religious Studies"

Philosophers of Nothingness has great merit as a broad-based study of the Kyoto school-- "Monumenta Nipponica"