An Inquiry into the Good. Part II, Chapters 1–3 / Translation from Japanese, Introductory Article and Commentaries by S. V. Kapranov

This publication presents the Ukrainian translation of chapters 1–3 of the second part of the work Zen-no kenkyū (in English translation An Inquiry into the Good) by Nishida Kitaro, a prominent Japanese philosopher of the 20th century, the founder of modern Japanese philosophy. In the second part of the work, Nishida examines the concept of reality from the point of view of his theory of pure experience (this concept was introduced and explained in detail in the first part). The first chapter is called “The starting point of the study”. It formulates a starting position, which consists in rejecting everything that can be questioned and starting with the unquestionable – with intuition, i.e., direct knowledge that is revealed in pure experience. The content of this knowledge is the phenomena of consciousness. Based on this, Nishida denies the dualism of spirit and matter, and criticizes the idea that true reality can be known through thinking. The second chapter is called “The only reality is the phenomena of consciousness”. In it, the author criticizes both materialism and solipsism. In addition, it highlights three main problems: the problem of the existence of another’s consciousness, the problem of causality, and the problem of the emergence of being from nothing. It should be noted that here for the first time in the “Investigation of the Good” the concept of nothingness is considered, which later became the central concept of Nishida’s philosophy. The third chapter is called “The true character of reality”. It is devoted to the characteristics of true reality given to us in pure experience. First of all, intellectualism and voluntarism in psychology are criticized here. Nishida proves that in pure experience there is no division into knowledge, feeling and volition. These three aspects are inherent in all phenomena of consciousness. In addition, true reality also knows no division into subject and object. Nishida concludes that a holistic perception of reality must include both the objective (knowledge) and the subjective (feeling and will). Finally, consider the worldview of the ancient Greeks as an example of a holistic perception of reality.