April 14, 2024 — Dr. Jon Herman

“A Zen Interpretation of Science and Religion”

Keiji Nishitani was one of the most brilliant (and challenging) representatives of the “Kyoto School,” a Japanese philosophical lineage that sought a creative fusion of European philosophy (especially existentialism) with the Zen Buddhist philosophy of emptiness. Nishitani, who studied under both Martin Heidegger and Kyoto School founder Kitaro Nishida, recognized that the Modern West could not produce an adequate solution to the conflict between science and religion. What he offered in their place was, in a manner of speaking, a Zen transformation of both.

Facilitator: D. Patton White
Musician: Mick Kinney