Language and Silence: Self-Inquiry in Heidegger and Zen

Abstract

The translated text presented here is mainly about a part of the relation between Heidegger and Asian Thought. It is a well-known fact that Heidegger,  while trying to find ways to overcome Western metaphysics,  turned  towards  Asian  thought,  especially  in his later  thought. In the text here, Heidegger’s  this  interest is examined while language and silence are put to centre in this examination. Text provides some philosophical interpretations about human essence and human nature through similarities and differences  between  Heidegger’s understanding of language and understanding of language in Asian  thought,  especially  in  Zen  Buddhism. This text, which can also be read as an  East –West comparison of culture, is functional  both  in  understanding  how Heidegger’s understanding of language  changed  between  his  early  and  later  thought, and  in  seeing  what  language  and silence mean in Asian thought re garding human essence and nature. Be sides Heidegger, the text also presents,  through  mentioning famous  thinkers  such as Gadamer, Kūkai, Dōgen, how Western and Asian thoughts differ from  each  other  in understanding concepts like being, existence, human, reality etc. The text clarifies the nuances relat ed to the relation between language and  silence both in Zen Buddhism and Hei degger’s thought, and manifests how silence is understood as a creative and  constructive ground.