Whither Nishida’s God ?

 
M. James W. Heisig, Nanzan Institute of Religion and Culture, Nagoya, Japan

After reviewing my own struggles with the idea of God prior to coming to Japan, I will quickly review the impact of my reading of Kyoto-School philosophy on the subject. In particular, attention will be given to Nishida's own struggles with the idea and its differences from the way God is treated in the Western philosophical traditions in which I was educated. From there, I will attempt to use Nishida's own philosophy to suggest an approach that Nishida himself did not pursue. In particular, I will draw attention to 3 interlocking and relevant insights and then 2 important oversights, and from there suggest a new approach to moves the question from Nishida to a new position that builds on his ideas but is not restricted to them.