BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:3931-6f67012b1eae627eb2062dd5d6affcad@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260522T010741Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221021T153000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221021T170000 SUMMARY:Fall Philosophy Colloquia: Bret Davis DESCRIPTION:\nFall Philosophy Colloquia: Bret Davis will give a talk on& nbsp\;"\;In and Out of Words: Ueda Shizuteru'\;s zen Buddhist Phi losophy of \;Lanugage"\;\n\nWhat is the relationship between lan guage and experience? This question was a central concern of the eminent Kyoto School philosopher and lay Zen master Ueda Shizuteru (1926&ndash\ ;2019). In fact\, this question has long been a focal issue of the Zen t radition. Famously\, if also paradoxically\, the Zen tradition has claim ed to &ldquo\;not to rely on words and letters&rdquo\; even while produc ing volumes of texts: poetry and didactic discourses as well as encounte r dialogues (mondō) and kōan collections. Critics have accused Zen of be ing self-contradictory in this regard\, yet Ueda demonstrates that Zen&r squo\;s paradoxical ambivalence toward language is not a problem\, but r ather the point. Moreover\, he explains how Zen teachings and practices can help us radically rethink the relationship between language and expe rience after the &ldquo\;linguistic turn&rdquo\; in philosophy. In this paper\, I examine Ueda&rsquo\;s contributions to the philosophy of langu age by bringing his thought into critical dialogue with continental phil osophers such as Hans-Georg Gadamer and scholars of Zen such as Dale S. Wright. In short\, Ueda rejects both the viewpoint that we are trapped w ithin the bounds of language and the viewpoint that we could somehow mea ningfully dwell outside of language. Rather\, he argues\, in everyday li fe as well as&mdash\;in an intentionally intensified manner&mdash\;in Ze n practice and poetic expression\, we are called on to engage in a cease less movement of &ldquo\;exiting language and exiting into language.&rdq uo\; \;\n\n \;\n\nBret W. Davis \;is Professor and Higgins C hair in Philosophy at Loyola University Maryland. In addition to attaini ng a Ph.D. in philosophy at Vanderbilt University\, he lived for more th an a dozen years in Japan\, where he studied Buddhist philosophy at Otan i University and Japanese philosophy at Kyoto University while practicin g Rinzai Zen at Shōkokuji monastery. He has published more than eighty s cholarly articles on Heidegger\, Zen Buddhism\, the Kyoto School\, and v arious other topics and figures in continental and cross-cultural philos ophy. He has also published ten books\, including the edited volumes&nbs p\;Japanese Philosophy in the World \;(Shōwadō\, 2005\, in Japanese) and \;The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy \;(Oxford Univ ersity Press\, 2020)\, a translation of Martin Heidegger&rsquo\;s \; Country Path Conversations \;(Indiana University Press\, 2010)\, and the monographs \;Heidegger and the Will: On the Way to Gelassenheit  \;(Northwestern University Press\, 2007) and \;Zen Pathways: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of Zen Buddhism \;(Oxfo rd University Press\, 2022). \;\n\nFor more details: https://events. la.psu.edu/event/fall_philosophy_colloquia_bret_davis/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Fall Philosophy Colloquia: Bret Davis will give a talk on "In and Out of W ords: Ueda Shizuteru's zen Buddhist Philosophy of Lanugage" ;

What is the relationship between language and experience? Th is question was a central concern of the eminent Kyoto School philosophe r and lay Zen master Ueda Shizuteru (1926–2019). In fact, this que stion has long been a focal issue of the Zen tradition. Famously, if als o paradoxically, the Zen tradition has claimed to “not to rely on words and letters” even while producing volumes of texts: poetry a nd didactic discourses as well as encounter dialogues (mondō) and kōan collections. Critics have accused Zen of being self-contradictory in this regard, yet Ueda demonstrates that Zen’s paradoxical ambiv alence toward language is not a problem, but rather the point. Moreover, he explains how Zen teachings and practices can help us radically rethi nk the relationship between language and experience after the “lin guistic turn” in philosophy. In this paper, I examine Ueda’s contributions to the philosophy of language by bringing his thought int o critical dialogue with continental philosophers such as Hans-Georg Gad amer and scholars of Zen such as Dale S. Wright. In short, Ueda rejects both the viewpoint that we are trapped within the bounds of language and the viewpoint that we could somehow meaningfully dwell outside of langu age. Rather, he argues, in everyday life as well as—in an intentio nally intensified manner—in Zen practice and poetic expression, we are called on to engage in a ceaseless movement of “exiting langu age and exiting into language.” 

 

Bret W. D avis is Professor and Higgins Chair in Philosophy at Loyola Univers ity Maryland. In addition to attaining a Ph.D. in philosophy at Vanderbi lt University, he lived for more than a dozen years in Japan, where he s tudied Buddhist philosophy at Otani University and Japanese philosophy a t Kyoto University while practicing Rinzai Zen at Shōkokuji monastery. H e has published more than eighty scholarly articles on Heidegger, Zen Bu ddhism, the Kyoto School, and various other topics and figures in contin ental and cross-cultural philosophy. He has also published ten books, in cluding the edited volumes Japanese Philosophy in the World& nbsp;(Shōwadō, 2005, in Japanese) and The Oxford Handbook of Jap anese Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2020), a translation of Martin Heidegger’s Country Path Conversations  ;(Indiana University Press, 2010), and the monographs Heidegger and the Will: On the Way to Gelassenheit (Northwestern Universi ty Press, 2007) and Zen Pathways: An Introduction to the Philoso phy and Practice of Zen Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2022 ). 

For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event /fall_philosophy_colloquia_bret_davis/

LOCATION:Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR