Zen Buddhism on the Limits of Knowledge and the Practice of Wisdom
Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte April 9, 2026 DOI: 10.28937/9783787351770_4 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Keywords | Relation database Order exchange Buddhist philosophy Western thought Impermanence Epistemology Spiritual practice |
| Key points | Argues that Zen Buddhism reveals the limits of intellectual knowledge and cultivates a holistic wisdom for intuitively applying perspectivally delimited knowledge. |
Abstract
This article examines how the Zen Buddhist tradition has conceived of the relation between intellectual knowledge and holistic wisdom. It begins with some reflections on Aristotle and the history of Western philosophy in order to pose the metaphilosophical question of whether, in modern times, philo-sophia has become more narrowly philo-epistēmē. With this critical question in mind, and in order to approach the Zen Buddhist tradition’s very different understanding of the nature of knowledge and the pursuit of wisdom, the article turns to two modern Japanese philosophers of the Kyoto School who were Zen practitioners as well as scholars of Western philosophy, Nishida Kitarō and Nishitani Keiji. The remainder of the article is dedicated to investigating how the Zen tradition—by drawing on and developing Mahāyāna Buddhist (and also Daoist) texts, teachings, and practices—has sought to reveal not only the limits of knowledge but also the delimiting effects of acts of knowing. Moreover, it discusses how Zen meditation and other forms of holistic practice are intended to awaken and cultivate a wisdom that enables one to intuitively understand when, where, and how to employ this or that perspectivally delimited form of knowledge.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |