What Can't be Said

This multi-authored monograph argues that the use of paradox and contradictions, in contrast to in typical Western thought, can deepen rather than disprove philosophical thought and discussion. Here the authors apply this view to East Asian philosophy, examining two classical Daoist texts, the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi, and the trajectory of Buddhism in East Asia, including the San Lun, Tiantai, Chan, and Zen traditions, culminating with the Kyoto school of philosophy in the twentieth century. The work ultimately concludes that contradictory positions illuminate deeper understandings of inconsistencies in reality and in the world.