Metaphysics in Dogen

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Kevin Schilbrack Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies and Department Chair (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/

Abstract: It is my hypothesis that metaphysics is an overlooked but fruitful category for cross- cultural philosophy, and I would like to demonstrate this hypothesis with what may seem an unpromising example, the writings of the Zen Buddhist teacher Dogen Kigen (1200-1253). The first section of this essay introduces a definition of meta- physics that, although drawn from the Western philosophical tradition, is, I hope, generic enough to be useful for the study of philosophy outside the West, and then argues for the legitimacy of metaphysics as an interpretative tool for the under- standing of Zen Buddhist thought. The second section spells out what I take to be the basic features of Dogen's metaphysics, and the third deals with a rival non- metaphysical interpretation of Dogen's philosophy.

Additional Information

Publication
Schilbrack, Kevin.2000.“Metaphysics in Dogen,” Philosophy East and West 50:1 (January 2000): 34-55. (ISSN: 0031-8221) Published by the University of Hawaii Press.
Language: English
Date: 2000

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