Engaging Japanese Philosophy

Engaging Japanese Philosophy: A Short History is a marvelously skilled blend of intellectual history, the history of ideas and the history of philosophy… . Engaging Japanese Philosophy is ultimately as much a meditation on philosophy’s global future as is a reflection on philosophy’s Japanese past.– “Peter D. Hershock”Between the two covers of this handsome volume, Engaging Japanese Philosophy: A Short History, lies the lifetime of one of the world’s finest scholars of Japanese philosophy, Thomas P. Kasulis. With this publication, the University of Hawai’i Press has provided its community of readers with a narrative companion to its award-winning Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook.– “Roger T. Ames”For one, this book speaks to professional philosophers who may have little or no background in Japanese thought–it would serve as an excellent introduction for academic philosophers interested in taking their first steps toward the study of non-Western material. Moreover, Kasulis’s writing is so accessible, and the examples he uses to explain key ideas are often so down to earth, that the book will appeal to an educated audience more generally. Finally, for obvious reasons, his book alone or paired with the Sourcebook could be the foundation for an excellent undergraduate or graduate course in Japanese philosophy.–Leah Kalmanson, Drake University “Philosophy East and West, 69:1 (January 2019)”

Kasulis is not only a deeply knowledgeable and insightful philosopher, but a wonderful writer, easy on the ear, with a conversational style and a gift for clarity regardless of the abstruseness of the ideas presented… . [T]he book is not simply an account of existing philosophy but a work of original philosophy and an expansion of Japanese philosophy… . Although we can hope Kasulis will continue his work, it is amply apparent that this is the culmination of four decades of deep thinking–a magisterial work that will inform Japanese philosophy for decades to come… . Regardless of degree of knowledge and sophistication, this book will prove invaluable to all readers.

Thomas Kasulis has authored another magnificent text on Japanese philosophy for Anglophone scholars and students, one which is surely to become a classic “must-read” in the field… . His writing provides ample concrete examples, as well as personal and real-life anecdotes, which many will be able to relate to, thereby making philosophical concepts come alive. He also provides diagrams to explain otherwise difficult-to-understand ideas. The book is quite broad in content, covering both premodern thought and modern and contemporary academic philosophy and related fields, and is suitable for both the beginner and advanced scholar… . The book is well worth the purchase and the time to read.

Thomas P. Kasulis is University Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus in Comparative Studies at the Ohio State University, where he has taught in the departments of comparative studies, philosophy, and East Asian studies.