Heidegger's Hidden Sources - East-Asian Influences on his Work (Hardcover)

The enormous influence of Martin Heidegger's thought in Japan and China is well documented, but many comparative studies of Heidegger's own thought have proceeded on the assumption of little influence from East Asian sources. This study argues that Heidegger drew some of the major themes of his philosophy - on occasion almost word for word - from German translations of Chinese Daoist and Zen Buddhist classics. It argues that Heidegger also involved himself in influential conversation with Chinese and Japanese scholars over the years. The author concentrates on a series of close textual comparisons of passages from Heidegger's major writings with exerpts from translations of Daoist classics and a collection of Zen translations with which Heidegger was known to be familiar. Striking similarities in vocabulary and phrase structure are found, too numerous to be coincidental. There is also a detailed discussion of Heidegger's "Dialogue on Language between a Japanese and an Inquirer", and a translation of the account given by the scholar with whom Heidegger had the "dialogue".