The self-overcoming of nihilism /

A clear translation of the expanded version of Nishitani's influential 1944 Kyoto lectures on Nihilism (first published in 1949 as Nihirizumu), which were inspired by his attendance at Heidegger's 1936-38 Freiburg lectures on Nietzsche's nihilism. Nishitani Keiji (Kyoto and Otani University) who lived from 1900 to 1990, was a student and close colleague of Nishida Kitaro, and is a seminal figure in the development of today's "Kyoto School" of philosophy in Japan. The book centers around an extensive examination of Nietzsche's position, with a preliminary chapter on development of the concept in Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Feuerbach, and chapters dealing with Nietzsche's influence on Stirner and Heidegger. Also included are brief studies of nihilism in Russia and Japan. An appendix addresses atheism in both Marxist and Sartrean senses. Helpful for understanding Nishitani's best-known work, Religion and Nothingness (Shukyo to wa nani ka, 1961; (tr. by Jan Van Bragt; CH, Jun'83), and the Buddhist concept of Sunyata. Recommended for collections of 19th- and 20th-century European continental philosophy, Japanese thought, Buddhist thought, and an essential addition to Kyoto School of Philosophy collections. Advanced undergraduates and up. F. G. Sturm University of New Mexico