Husserl’s phenomenological reduction and “empty mind” in Zen Buddhism

Abstract

The text compares two themes: Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological reduction, and the category of „empty mind” in Zen Buddhism. The similarities and the difference between the two epistemological strategies are shown and the common ground for metaphysical and partly ethical solutions are outlined. The basic thesis is that different cognitive strategies can lead to very similar effects. In other words, meditation does not exclude discursive knowledge which does not necessarily oppose meditation. Husserl and the great Zen masters see the principle of all principles in consciousness (mind). An empty mind is like the mind of a philosopher who has made a phenomenological reduction.