Phenomenological Attitude in Japanese Philosophy

Abstract

Phenomenology is a method of western philosophy, which was initiated by Edmund Husserl. The so-called phenomenological reduction is regarded as an important attitude of such method. However, its attitude does not exist only in western philosophy but also in the eastern philosophy, especially in Japanese philosophy, which was found that the phenomenological attitude is used.The propose of this article is to discuss about phenomenological attitude in pre-modern Japanese philosophy and the influence of western phenomenology that effects modern Japanese philosophy unto contemporary Japanese philosophy. As a result, it can be concluded that the classical Japanese philosophy of Dogen focuses on the problem of reflection about intentionality for distinguish the process of thinking and not-thinking toward without-thinking. Whereas, the modern Japanese philosophy of Nishida Kitaro began to critique Husserl’s phenomenology on the basis of subjectivity and pure experience, and then presents his notion about true pure experience that related to the absolute nothingness. Nevertheless, it can be said that both Nishida’s notion and influence of western phenomenology are effected to the paradigm of contemporary Japanese philosophy in the present time.