Shizuteru Ueda (上田 閑照) was a Japanese philosopher specialized in philosophy of religion, especially in philosophy of Buddhism and Zen. He was a professor at Kyoto University and considered a third generation member of Kyoto School (京都学派, Kyoto-gakuha).

Biography

Shizuteru Ueda was born in Tokyo, Japan. As the son of a Buddhist priest, he studied philosophy at Kyoto University where his mentor Keiji Nishitani oriented his studies toward medieval mystics. He then went to Germany and received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Marburg with a thesis on the Western Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart. He returned to Kyoto University to teach philosophy of religion. In 1976, He was awarded a Doctor of Letters (文学博士, Bungaku-Hakushi). He later focused on the thought of Kitaro Nishida. Being a Zen practitioner, Ueda—like Nishida—studied Zen Buddhism under the philosophical categories of Western philosophy. He is considered a third generation member of Kyoto School.

Family