The Philosophy of Zen Buddhism
Byung-Chul Han author Daniel Steuer translator
Format:Hardback
Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Published:16th Sep '22
Should be back in stock very soon
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£12.99(9781509545100)
Zen Buddhism is a form of Mahāyāna Buddhism that originated in China and is strongly focused on meditation. It is characteristically sceptical towards language and distrustful of conceptual thought, which explains why Zen Buddhist sayings are so enigmatic and succinct. But despite Zen Buddhism’s hostility towards theory and discourse, it is possible to reflect philosophically on Zen Buddhism and bring out its philosophical insights.
In this short book, Byung-Chul Han seeks to unfold the philosophical force inherent in Zen Buddhism, delving into the foundations of Far Eastern thought to which Zen Buddhism is indebted. Han does this comparatively by confronting and contrasting the insights of Zen Buddhism with the philosophies of Plato, Leibniz, Fichte, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Heidegger and others, showing that Zen Buddhism and Western philosophy have very different ways of understanding religion, subjectivity, emptiness, friendliness and death.
This important work by one of the most widely read philosophers and cultural theorists of our time will be of great value to anyone interested in comparative philosophy and religion.
‘For anyone seriously interested in both Zen Buddhism and Western philosophy, and in what the masters of the former might say to the giants of the latter, this sparkling gem of a book will be astonishingly enlightening.’
Bret W. Davis, author of Zen Pathways: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of Zen Buddhism
ISBN: 9781509545094
Dimensions: 216mm x 142mm x 15mm
Weight: 272g
120 pages