| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The initial purpose of this research was to examine the concept of "Panentheismus" from point of view of comparative thought, with a special on (1) Sebastian Franck, (2) Lessing, (3) Gustav Fechner, (4) Troeltsch, (5) pr4ocess philosophers/theologians, and (6) Kitaro Nishida. But in the course of research it turned out hardly possible to attain the original purpose in three years. So the research plan was adjusted to concentrate on (1), (2), and(4). In addition, a general survey made of K C F. Krause.
The following results have been attained from my investigations : (1)the term "Panentheismus" was first coined by Krause in 1828 ; (2)this concept, in contrast to pantheism, intends to maintain both God's transcendence over the word and the world's immanence in God at one and the same time ; (3) Krause himself used the term "Allingottlehre" along with "Panentheismus" ; (4) the concept of "Panentheismus" aims at bringing Jewish-Christian theism and Stoic pantheism (or Spinozistic immanentism) into a synthesis ; (5) its distinction from pantheism, however, is so subtle and delicate that those thinkers who affirm a pantentheistic position have always been charged with pantheism by defenders of Christian theism.
The 'panentheistic' motif can, however, be found not only in the New Testament but especially in Christian mystics and spiritualists. Sebastian Franck is a representative. His position is often said to be pantheism but, in my view, is actually panentheism. Lessing's philosophy of religion bears the traits that can best be characterized as "Panta-en-theism. " Troeltsch's energetic concept of God points toward panentheism but still lacks conceptual clarity. To escape its pantheistic misunderstandings, John Macquarrie proposes to substitute "panentheism" with "dialectical theism. "
The task that lies ahead is to analyze the difference between the panentheism of Western-Christian type and that of Oriental-Buddhist type.
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