On the Idea of basho in Nishida Kitarō’s Philosophy (trans. Y. Ishihara)

Masakatsu FUJITA

Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (GSAIS), Kyoto University, Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan , Japan

Dorota CHABRAJSKA

John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland

Abstract

Kitarō Nishida (1870-1945) is a leading Japanese philosopher who laid the foundations for the so-called “Kyoto School.” His thought underwent considerable change throughout his life. What established his reputation was his theory of basho articulated in the mid-period of his philosophical career.

The adoption of Aristotle’s concept of substance was crucial for the formulation of his idea of basho. But Nishida did not accept the concept in its original form as it was present in Aristotle. For Nishida, substance is that which sees and knows itself by reflecting itself within itself, and in this sense it is that which transcends and envelops the I. In terms of the subject-predicate relation in a subsumptive judgment, it is seen in the direction of the predicate. It is itself something that never becomes the (grammatical) subject, i.e. never becomes the content of knowledge, and can only be grasped as the basho.

The underlying attitude of Nishida’s thought is to comprehend matters not in so far as they are objectified but to grasp the matter in its whole. Alternatively phrased, it is to see matters from reality itself. The theory of basho was developed against the backdrop of giving the logical grounds to such an idea.

Keywords:

Kitarō Nishida, basho (place), Aristotle, Scotus Eriugena, nothingness