Book review: Chinese and Buddhist philosophy in early twentieth-century German thought by Eric S. Nelson

• Main Author: Steven BURIK
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Religion; Theory and Philosophy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2406; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3663/viewcontent/Chinese_and_Buddhist_philosophy_in_early_twentieth_century_German_thought.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Eric Nelson has written a very comprehensive study of the reception of Chinese and EasternBuddhist philosophy in Western thought, with a special focus on the German thinkers of theearly twentieth century. Nelson shows great erudition in bringing together a wide variety ofthinkers from both East and West, including importantly some lesser known, but very relevantthinkers from both the Western tradition and Eastern philosophy. Although Nelson focusesmostly on the encounters and interactions between German philosophers and Chinese thinkers,his aim with this commendable book is wider. Nelson employs the encountersbetween German and Chinese thinkers in the wider context of comparative and/or interculturalphilosophy, and his aim is therefore stated as being an attempt to consider ‘whether amore nuanced and historically appropriate conception of philosophy can emerge through criticallyengaging and reflecting on the modern encounter between Western and non-Westernphilosophy, and articulating its intercultural and intertextual dynamics’ (11–12).