Nishida’s Nothingness and Nagarjuna’s Emptiness

Descriptions and Comparisons

Abstract

This paper has for its principal purpose a description of the logical foundations and special characteristics of Nishida’s basho of Absolute Nothingness, as presented in his philosophical essay “Basho.” This is then followed by a similar description of the concept of Emptiness as presented by Nagarjuna in his Mulamadhyamaka-Karika. Finally, some essential elements of these two concepts are compared and contrasted, and it is shown that due to their completely divergent foundations, elaborations and implications, they express the fundamental concepts of two radically different but complementary ontological approaches.