SOURCE: "Is the Place of Nothingness Not a Place?: Worldmaking and Criticism in Modern Japanese Philosophy," in Worldmaking, edited by William Pencak, Peter Lang, 1996, pp. 99-120.

In the following essay, Heine analyzes Nishida's concept of time and space, contending that the philosopher sought to "reconcile conceptual polarities and dichotomies based on traditional Zen Buddhist doctrines. "

I

Japanese Conceptions of Time and Space

Philosophical worldmaking can be said to consist of the constructing, or the reconstructing, of the fundamental elements of time and space. Typically, traditional and modern Japanese thinkersargue for a synthetic, nondualistic outlook which emphasizes the inseparability and ultimate identity of these two elements, for '(t)he 'now' of immediacy is always a 'here' as well.'¹ That is, the categories of time and space are equalizable and interchangeable. A prime example of a view of the unity of time and space is Nishida Kitaro's (1870-...