Tanabe Hajime's Philosophical Development between the Middle- and Late- Period: Based on the Exchanges with Takeuchi Yoshinori

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K23025
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0101:Philosophy, art, and related fields
• Research Institution: Otani University
• Principal Investigator: URAI Satoshi 大谷大学, 文学部, 助教 (50844370)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 田辺元 / 種の論理 / 懺悔道 / 社会存在論 / 武内義範 / 将来する浄土

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It is often said that Tanabe Hajime’s philosophy underwent a major turn following the end of the Fifteen Years’ War (1931-1945), a transition from his social ontology known as the “logic of species,” which was developed during the war, to a new philosophy of religion known as “metanoetics.” Straddling these two periods was a three-year interval in which Tanabe did not release his thoughts to the public. I have clarified the nature of this transition by participating in the publication of documents belonging to this so-called “period of silence” (Tanabe’s notebooks and letters to Takeuchi Yoshinori). I have also clarified that the basic scheme of Tanabe’s social ontology was inherited by Takeuchi’s ontology of the Pure Land, thereby confirming the continuity between their thinking. To raise awareness on Tanabe’s philosophy abroad, I have worked with foreign researchers to translate into English Tanabe’s early texts on epistemology.

Free Research Field

哲学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで田辺哲学は十分に研究されてきたとは言い難く、今なおその思想は解釈の途上にあるため、全体像や哲学的意義は今後の研究を通して明らかにされなければならない。本研究の成果は「種の論理」と「懺悔道」の間の「飛躍」が、従来の研究で強調されてきたように〈全く別の哲学となった〉ことを意味するのではなく、連続性がかなりの程度保たれていたことを明らかに出来た。これによって従来の理解とは異なる田辺哲学像を示すことが出来た。また、田辺の社会存在論の継承者として武内義範を位置づけることに成功した。加えて、翻刻資料や著作の英訳により、今後の田辺研究、ひいては日本哲学研究発展のための新しい礎を築くことが出来た。