[Inviting Application] Summer School on the Kyoto School 2026

The Department of Philosophy and the Department of Japanese Studies are co-organzing the Summer School on the Kyoto School 2026. We are now inviting applications from bachelor’s degree graduates and postgraduate students.

Theme: Totality and Contradiction

Description: While major Western philosophical movements in the 20th century looked upon claims to absolute knowledge with deep suspicion, the Kyoto School never abandoned philosophy’s sacred vocation to know the absolute. Against the dominant disposition to look upon contradiction as an obstacle to absolute knowledge, the Kyoto School recognizes contradiction as the key to unlocking the secrets of absolute totality.  The Summer School will engage with major thinkers of the Kyoto School on totality and contradiction. Philosophizing with Nishida, Takahashi, Tanabe, Nishitani, Ueda, Miki, Tosaka, and Watsuji, the Summer School will also explore the contemporary relevance of the Kyoto School for philosophical thought in the 21st century.

Date: 1-12 June 2026

Venue: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Co-organized by: The Department of Philosophy and the Department of Japanese Studies with support from the Faculty of Arts and the Edwin Cheng Foundation Asian Centre for Phenomenology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Keynotes: Yūjin Itabashi (Rissho University), Mayuko Uehara (Kyoto University), Satoshi Urai (Kyoto University), Graham Priest (CUNY), Gregory S. Moss (CUHK), Kyle Peters (CUHK), and Dennis Prooi (HKBU) 

Eligibility: No background in the Kyoto School is necessary to apply, however, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, East Asian Studies, or a closely related discipline is a requirement. We invite graduate students, both master’s and PhD students, to apply. All non-local students accepted to the programme will be provided with accommodation. Some meals and some local transportations will also be covered.

Link for application: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13724876

Deadline for application: 1 March 2026