Q0309
“To experience means to know facts just as they are.” — Nishida Kitaro (An Inquiry into the Good)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: An Inquiry into the Good. Theme: experience.
English
To experience means to know facts just as they are.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to An Inquiry into the Good and files it under Kyoto School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Nishida Kitaro
Nishida Kitarō (1870–1945) founded the Kyoto School at Kyoto Imperial University, forging a modern Japanese philosophy in dialogue with James, Bergson, Neo-Kantianism, and Zen practice. An Inquiry into the Good (1911) made ‘pure experience’ his early keystone; later essays develop the logic of basho (place) and absolute nothingness.
How to read this passage
Empiricists treat experience as the source of ideas; phenomenologists describe its structure; pragmatists treat it as experimental and revisable. This passage enters that discussion through experience, knowledge.
Concepts in this quote
- Experience
- Experience is the lived encounter with world and self—foundation or limit for knowledge, art, and ethics.
- Knowledge
- Knowledge is the philosophical study of what we can justifiably claim to know—and where certainty ends.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Nishida Kitaro. (n.d.). To experience means to know facts just as they are. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0309
MLA: Nishida Kitaro. “To experience means to know facts just as….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0309.
Chicago: Nishida Kitaro. “To experience means to know facts just as….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0309.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “To experience means to know facts just as…”?
The passage is attributed to Nishida Kitaro, An Inquiry into the Good. The archive attributes this English wording to An Inquiry into the Good and files it under Kyoto School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Nishida Kitaro mean by experience?
Empiricists treat experience as the source of ideas; phenomenologists describe its structure; pragmatists treat it as experimental and revisable. This passage enters that discussion through experience, knowledge.