ABSTRACT
Metanoetics possess profound significance as a philosophy for the present turning point in history. History is calling on people of all nations to practice zange in order to build up societies of fellowship. This chapter outlines clearly what is novel in Tanabe Hajime's thought, while also dealing with some of the criticisms which have been levelled at Tanabe's text. It expresses that while Tanabe overemphasizes the existential at the expense of the philosophical, there is still much in Tanabe of relevance today. Tanabe points out that "Metanoia can mean both conversion and repentance" using the term zange for repentance and kaishin/eshin, for "conversion". For Tanabe, the path of reason and the path of zange represent two different means of approaching the world, roughly equivalent to the Pure Land Buddhist distinction between "self-power" (jiriki) and "other-power" (tariki). For Tanabe, World War II presents a critical challenge to the Kantian ideal of a rational fulcrum to the philosophical enterprise.
