Heidegger's Hidden Sources

Heidegger's Hidden Sources documents for the first time Heidegger's remarkable debt to East Asian philosophy. In this groundbreaking study, Reinhard May shows conclusively that Martin Heidegger borrowed some of the major ideas of his philosophy - on occasion almost word for word - from German translations of Chinese Daoist and Zen Buddhist classics. The discovery of this astonishing appropriation of non-Western sources will have important consequences for future interpretations of Heidegger's work. Moreover, it shows Heidegger as a pioneer of comparative philosophy and transcultural thinking.

Reinhard May is Lecturer in the Faculty of Philosophy at the Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf., Graham Parkes, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii, is Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University.

Translator's Preface. Abbreviations. Introduction. 1. Indications 2. The 'Conversation' 3. Nothing, Emptiness and the Clearing 4. Dao: Way and Saying 5. A Kind of Confession 6. Conclusions 7. Translation of Tezuko Tomio, 'An Hour with Heidegger' Translator's Notes Glossary of Chinese and Japanese Characters Bibliography Graham Parkes, Complementary Essay: Rising Sun over Black Forest: Heidegger's Japanese Connections Endnotes Index