Shizuteru Ueda

Shizuteru Ueda (上田 閑照, Ueda Shizuteru; January 17, 1926^[1] − June 28, 2019) was a Japanese philosopher specialized in philosophy of religion, especially in philosophy of Buddhism and Zen. He was a professor at Kyoto University and considered a third generation member of Kyoto School (京都学派, Kyoto-gakuha).^[2]

Shizuteru Ueda
Born	(1926-01-17)January 17, 1926 Tokyo, Japan
Died	June 28, 2019(2019-06-28) (aged 93)
Nationality	Japanese
Education
Alma mater	University of Marburg Kyoto University
Philosophical work
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Japanese philosophy
School	Kyoto School
Institutions	Kyoto University
Main interests	Buddhism, Zen, philosophy of religion

Biography

Shizuteru Ueda was born in Tokyo, Japan.

As the son of a Buddhist priest, he studied philosophy at Kyoto University where his mentor Keiji Nishitani oriented his studies toward medieval mystics.

He then went to Germany and received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Marburg with a thesis on the Western Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart. He returned to Kyoto University to teach philosophy of religion. In 1976, He was awarded a Doctor of Letters (文学博士, Bungaku-Hakushi).

He later focused on the thought of Kitarō Nishida. Being a Zen practitioner, Ueda—like Nishida—studied Zen Buddhism under the philosophical categories of Western philosophy. He is considered a third generation member of Kyoto School.^[1]

Family

• His wife is Maniko Ueda (上田真而子, Maniko Ueda), who is a Japanese literary specialized in German literature.

Bibliography

• Die Gottesgeburt in der Seele und der Durchbruch zur Gottheit. Die mystische Anthropologie Meister Eckharts und ihre Konfrontation mit der Mystik des Zen-Buddhismus. Mohn, Güterloh 1965.
• Zen y filosofia, Barcelona: Herder, 2004.

References

• J. C. Maraldo: Zen, Language and the Other. The Philosophy of Ueda Shizuteru. In: The Ten Directions. Edited by Zen Center of Los Angeles and The Kuroda Institut. 10:2 (1989).