James Heisig Given Honorary Doctoral Degree at TU

On October 23rd, at the Doctoral Degree Commencement Ceremony, professor James Heisig received his Honorary Doctoral degree.

Professor James Heisig is a Permanent Fellow of Nanzan Institute for Religion & Culture, one of the most important research centers on Japanese religion and philosophy. He is also a professor of the Faculty of Arts and Letters in Nanzan University

After completing his studies in Europe, Professor Heisig taught philosophy and religion in the United States and Latin America for five years. He joined the staff of the Nanzan Institute in 1978 and served as Director from 1991–2001.

His books, translations, and edited collections, which have appeared in 12 languages, currently number 75 volumes.

Professor Heisig has engaged in a research of Kyoto school of philosophy focusing on such concepts as place and nothingness. His research on Nishida Kitaro and Tanabe Hajime among others has shaped the ideas of the whole generation of scholars working on Japanese philosophy and helped to enliven the dialogue between Eastern and Western traditions.

Books such as

Philosophers of Nothingness: An Essay on the Kyoto School.
Nothingness and Desire: An East-West Philosophical Antiphony 

And most recently published collection of articles Much Ado About Nothingness: Essays on Nishida and Tanabe form a compulsory reading list of any serious student of Japanese philosophy.

Professor Heisig is also the general Editor of the 19-volume series Nanzan Studies in Religion and Culture and Essays in Japanese Philosophy.

We are extremely happy that seventh volume in the series called “Frontiers of Japanese Philosophy” published papers presented during the conference “Classical Japanese Philosophy” held in Tallinn in 2010. This volume was co-edited by professor James Heisig and professor Rein Raud and included papers of young scholars from Tallinn University and Helsinki University. 

Professor Heisig has visited Tallinn numerous times and his visits have always had a very positive influence on our students of Japanese and Chinese philosophy. We sincerely hope that our fruitful cooperation will continue in the future.

Click here to see photos from the Commencement Ceremony