He studied philosophy at Yale University and Asian philosophy at the University of Hawaii. In 1975 he obtained a doctorate in philosophy at Yale University. Since 1991 teaches religion and philosophy at the Department of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University. He has been visiting professor at the universities of Ryukoku, Vilnius, Otani, Osaka, Beijing and Komazawa, and in 2006 occupied the Roche Research Chair for Inter in the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture (Nagoya).

Among his writings, which include numerous books and articles on Japanese philosophy, include: Zen Action / Zen Person (1989, translated into French in 1993), Intimacy or Integrity: Philosophy and Cultural Difference (2002) and his recent co-edited, along with James W. Heisig and John C. Maraldo, Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook (2011). Currently working on a history of Japanese philosophy.