Document Type
Contribution to Book
Source Publication
Polyphonic Thinking and the Divine
Publication Date
Winter 2-10-2013
Editor
Jim Kanaris
Publisher
Rodopi
City
Amsterdam and New York
Series
Value Inquiry Book Series
ISBN
978-90-420-3621-5
First Page
89
Last Page
96
Department
Comparative Humanities
Description
The concept of Sorge, as developed in Martin Heidegger’s (1889–1976) classic work, Sein und Zeit (1927), describes an existential-ontological state characterized by “anxiety” about the future and the desire to “attend to” the world based on our awareness of temporality. In Japan, this concept was borrowed and critically developed by Watsuji Tetsurō (1889–1960). In Rinrigaku (1937–49), Watsuji argued that Heidegger’s Sorge remains overly reliant on the philosophical structures of Western individualism and subjectivism, and thus neglects the social dimension of human being. In turn, Watsuji’s contemporary, Tanabe Hajime (1885–1962), developed an alternative theory of “concern” in his reflections on “metanoesis” (zange), especially as found in his magnum opus, Zange toshite no tetsugaku (1948). This paper analyzes the concepts of Sorge and zange as developed in the work of these three thinkers, with special focus on “concern” as both an ontological category and a foundation for ethics.
Recommended Citation
Shields, James, "Zange and Sorge: Two Models of 'Concern' in Comparative Philosophy of Religion" (2013). Faculty Contributions to Books. 94.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/94
Included in
Buddhist Studies Commons, Comparative Philosophy Commons, Continental Philosophy Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons