Life Studies and Philosophy of Life
Table of Contents
1. What is life studies?
2. What is philosphy of life ?
3. What is painless civilization ?
*Written by Masahiro Morioka on Jan.17,2004, revised on Apr.19,2004, and slightly revised on April 4, 2010.
1. What is life studies?
Overview
"Life studies" is an interdisciplinary approach to life, death, and nature. We have gender studies, disability studies, and peace studies. I would like to propose one more interdisciplinary-oriented approach, "life studies."
Our life in this world is limited. We are all going to die sooner or later. Life studies is an attempt to acquire the intellectual
capacity, wisdom and systematically organized knowledge from a variety
of disciplines needed to live our limited lives without regret.
In order to achieve that goal, we need to explore a new field in philosophy, humanities, and social sciences. We seek to promote research on the meaning of life, the essence of contemporary industrialized society that makes us lose sight of the fulfillment of life, and the fate of scientific technology that results in the exploitation of human life and the environment. Life studies is an open research program any person concerned can join.
The ultimate end of life studies is to support people to actually live their own lives without regret. We connect philosophical wisdom, academic research, and researchers' own life.
> See the description of "life"  and "meaning of life" in Wikipedia.
Essence of Life Studies
The following are "methodology" and "guiding concepts" that constitute the essence of life studies.
<The Methodology of Life Studies>
1) My own life as a starting point and the ultimate end
The most important thing is that one's own life should be the starting point and the ultimate end of life studies. In life studies we should never detach ourselves from the problems we are tackling, and should never think ourselves as exceptions. Knowledge or discussion completely separated from one's own life should not be included in life studies. Mere analysis of ethical concepts or social structure cannot constitute life studies. Instead, for example, a private narrative of my own experiences is a good starting point for the life studies analysis of human psychology and ethics. I performed this process in the book How to Live in a Post-religious Age and Painless Civilization. Subjective knowledge is as important as objective knowledge in life studies. We need to explore ways to share subjective knowledge among people with different backgrounds.
2) Pursuit of "life without regret"
The pursuit of life without regret is the ultimate end of life studies. In life studies, all intellectual activities, for example, reading, research, analysis, contemplation, discussion and writing, are connected and integrated to this end. We should be aware of the fact that our life in this world is limited. We are all going to die sooner or later. Hence, as mentioned above, life studies should be an attempt to acquire an interdisciplinary, organized knowledge, intellect, and wisdom that help us live our limited lives without regret. In the book Painless Civilization I presented the idea of "the central axis" that exists on the very basis of ourselves, by following which we are able to live our lives without regret.
3) Confrontation with our own desire and evil
Life studies encourages us to keep our eyes on our own "desire" and "evil" that are deeply engraved into our heart. We cannot entirely escape from our own desire and evil. What is needed is not to unconditionally accept them, but to forgive us who cannot escape from them, and to seek ways to continuously try to overcome our tendency to return to them. We need to explore wisdom and social system that support that attempt. Moral imperatives alone cannot change our fundamental attitudes. In the book Painless Civilization I presented the possibility of transforming "the desire of the body" into "the desire of life." And in the book Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics I presented the idea of "retroactive method from evil."
4) Criticism of contemporary society, civilization, and scientific technology
A search for the meaning of life usually tends to aim at personal healing and self-realization, but we should go forward to the next important step, the criticism of contemporary society, civilization, and scientific technology, because contemporary civilization cleverly takes away from us the meaning of life and the possibility of living life without regret (See Painless Civilization). This criticism should lead to the reconsideration of the existing scientific methodology and social systems. We should make clear what kind of society is preferable in order for all of us to be able to fully pursue lives without regret, and we should make clear how we can create social system of that kind. A transformation of the self without any social reform is not the goal of life studies.
5) Inquiry into the world of life
All life on Earth are closely connected with one another. Humans are no exception. We cannot live without killing and eating other creatures. Our life is supported by fresh air, water, crops, and domesticated animals. One of the most important features of life studies is to think about the meaning of human life in relationship with other creatures on the earth, and with nature -- the matrix of life. After we die, our bodies return to the earth and the air, that is to say, all parts of our bodies spread back to the matrix of life, hence, the meaning of human life and death should also be considered from the viewpoint of our relationship with nature and the environment. All creatures on the earth, including humans, share a lot of genes and the process of evolution, hence, our life without regret cannot be separated from our relationships with other creatures and the natural environment. (See Concept of Inochi(life), and Life Torn Apart).
6) The third way between religion and science
Life studies deals with the journey of our irreplaceable life, which cannot be scientifically replicated, because we cannot live any moment of our life twice. At the same time, life studies says nothing about the existence of God, the transcendent being, and the afterlife, because we can't have certain knowledge about them. Life studies does not deny science or religion. Life studies simply follows a different path from science and religion. Life studies seeks a post-religious spirituality of life, death, and nature, without using the language of religion. We help promote a dialogue between life studies and religion. In other words, we need both religious approaches to life studies, and life studies approaches to religion.
<Guiding Concepts in Life Studies>
1) Painless civilization
The endless tendency in our civilization to eliminate pain and suffering makes us totally lose sight of the meaning of life that is indispensable to human beings. I called it "painless civilization" in the book Painless Civilization. >> See section 3.
2) Fundamental sense of security
In the book Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics I presented the idea of "the fundamental sense of security" as a key concept for future life studies.This is "a sense of security that allows me to strongly believe that even if I had been unintelligent, ugly, or disabled, at least my existence in the world would have been welcomed equally, and even if I succeed, fail, or become a doddering old man, my existence will continue to be welcomed." (quoted from this paper). I believe that this is an important concept in the coming age of new eugenics.
3) The central axis
This concept was introduced in the book Painless Civilization. There are three layers in personal identity, namely, surface identity, deep identity, and the central axis. The central axis is the most basic one, but in everyday life many people forget the layer of the central axis. The central axis is a path by following which I will be able to say, when I die, that I am happy to have been born. One's central axis can be found by dismantling his/her deep identity. This concept is closely connected with that of "life without regret."
4) The desire of the body and the desire of life
In the book Painless Civilization I distinguished two kinds of desires, namely, "the desire of the body" and "the desire of life." While the desire of the body seeks to protect pleasure, pleasantness, and vested interests, the desire of life tries to discard them, dismantle the current self, and open oneself to an unexpected future. It is our "desire of the body" that promotes "painless civilization." This desire of the body takes away from us the deep "joy of life" that could visit us in an unexpected way when we transform ourselves by going through pain and suffering.
5) Reality of swaying I
When we encounter a situation we have never wanted to experience, especially that contains profound self-contradiction, we are emotionally swayed by it, and wish to avert our eyes from the situation. Japanese feminist, Mitsu Tanaka, called this kind of experience "the sway of the confused self." But paradoxically, only people in this swaying situation can truly understand the deep suffering of others and enter into the relationship of mutual support with other suffering people. "The reality of swaying I" is the concept introduced in the book Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics in order to enlarge Tanaka's idea. "The reality of swaying I" is closely connected to "the advent of an absent being."
6) Relationship and irreplaceability
All beings in the universe, especially all living things on the earth, are incorporated into the web of “relationships.” They cannot exist without these relationships. At the same time, every being in these relationships is fundamentally “irreplaceable” to each other. Life studies urges us to view everything from the perspective of correlation between "relationship" and "irreplaceability." (see Concept of Inochi(life).)
7) Three natures of human life
In a series of essays in Life Torn Apart, I argued that there are three natures which are deeply engraved on humans, namely, "the nature of connectedness (with all living things)," "the nature of self-interest," and "the nature of mutual support." These natures sometimes keep in harmony, but sometimes come into conflict with each other. I believe that it is important to see the relationship between humans and living creatures from this perspective.
Research Programs
I would like to propose the following research projects.
1) Philosophy of life
Philosophy of life deals with such questions as: "What is life without regret?" and "Why must we live while we all die in the end?" >> See section 2
2) Criticism of contemporary civilization
Life studies should include a fundamental reconsideration of our society that is driven by capitalism, materialism, and scientific technology. The question is whether people can live a life without regret in contemporary society where they are obsessed with pleasure and pleasantness. >> See section 3
3) Research on images of life
One of the most important researches in life studies is the study of images of life, death and nature ordinary people actually have in different areas of the world. It would be of great help to researchers in life studies if they could know what imaginations and ideas people have in contemporary society. My paper, "The Concept of Inochi(life)," shows a result of preliminary research among Japanese. This research is still going on. Comparative research among countries will be needed.
4) Criticism of bioethics
Criticism of "bioethics" is needed because it often lacks an insight into the meaning of life, and it also lacks a critical view of the essence of contemporary civilization that has created bioethical problems. Although bioethics research is expanding around the world, it's time to renovate it by introducing the viewpoint of life studies. I tried this in my book, Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics (2001), and other papers. Some of them (1 2) were written in English. And it is important to connect bioethics to "environmental ethics" because our attitudes toward life are closely connected with our attitudes toward nature, our natural environment. I wrote a series of papers in Japanese.
5) Research on human nature and social factors that interfere with our attempt to change
We seek to live a good life and create a good society, but we have almost always failed. I suspect there might be human nature and/or social factors that interfere with our attempt to change our society and ourselves. I propose to research these interfering factors from the viewpoint of various disciplines including biology, psychology, history, and social sciences. This will be a totally interdisciplinary approach. This is our future research.
6) Research on the fate of social reform movements
This research has a close connection to the above one. We have had various social reform movements up until the present, for example, Marxism, totalitarianism, American capitalism, various religious communities, etc., but there were few movements that succeeded in creating a sustainable community where severe oppression against minorities could not be found. We wish to know the end results of their movements, in order to think seriously about the limitation of "life studies." Future research.
7) Criticism of science from the viewpint of life studies
The aim of science, especially natural science, is to increase objective knowledge. However, as science progresses, a set of questions that science has avoided asking are starting to emerge before us as unavoidable questions, such as the question of "the meaning of life", the methodology of handling "qualitative data", the interpretation of the inner emotions or values of the other persons, and so forth. We need a new method to handle this kind of "subjective knowledge." As a first step to attain this goal, I propose to criticize science from this perspective, and go on to the second step, the creation of a new methodology for dealing with subjective knowledge. Future research.
8) An untouchable area in human life
Various advanced technologies are expected to invade the human body, the DNA, and the brain, much more deeply in the near future. It may be time to set up an untouchable area in human life where technological interventions will have to be prohibited. We need to protect the untouchable area from our own desire. (But we do not necessarily need to be conservative to support this idea).
9) Life studies approaches to various disciplines
I think it is an interesting idea to introduce some basic ideas of life studies to various disciplines or movements, such as psychology, nursing, sociology, religion, ethics, cultural studies, and so on. Life studies would probably be able to stimulate those disciplines, and as a result, fruitful dialogues might occur. I tried it in the book, Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics (2001), and criticized the framework of contemporary bioethics from the viewpoint of life studies. I am thinking of a similar approach to ecology. Many other approaches will be possible.
10) Connection of academic research to researcher's own life
The most important thing for life studies is that a researcher hem/herself live his/her own life without regret. In this sense, academic research that will not help transform the researcher's own life should not be called "life studies." Life studies encourages a researcher to rethink his/her actual life and transform it, and after that, express that painful process in some form in order share it among us. Morioka tried to depict this process in the book Painless Civilization (2003). This process should lead to the transformation of the social system and our intellect.
Morioka's works on life studies so far
You can read several papers in English on this website, but most of the essays, papers, and books on life studies have been written in Japanese, which are uploaded on the Japanese website. I am going to translate them into English in the future. The following are an outline of my works on life studies up until the present.
1) Human relationship oriented analysis of brain death.
In Brain Dead Person (1989), I maintained that brain death should be interpreted as a form of "human relationships." I paid special attention to the emotional aspect and the inner reality of the family members of a brain dead person. You can read a translation of the book. Legal and sociological aspects can be found in Special Reports.
2) Research on images of life among ordinary people.
Some results were found in the paper "The Concept of Inochi(life)" (1991). Many Japanese (and probably people around the world) grasp the idea of "human life" in relationship with that of "nature." The images of "life," "spirit," and "nature" are overlapping with one another in their worldview. The keyword is "interrelatedness and irreplaceability." I discussed cultural differences in philosophy of life in the paper "Bioethics and Japanese Bulture" (1995) and "Cross-cultural Approaches to the Philosophy of Life in the Contemporary World" (2003).
3) The third way between religion and science.
In the book How to Live in a Post-religious Age (1996), written as a reaction against the 1995 Sarin nerve gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subways, I discussed a way to seek "spirituality" and "meaning of life" outside religion.
4) Three natures of human life.
See guiding concepts 7.
5) The fundamental sense of security.
In the book Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics (2001), I discussed the idea of "the fundamental sense of security" as a key term for thinking about a negative psychological impact of new eugenics (See guiding concepts 2). You can see a summary in this paper. I believe this term will become one of the basic concepts of "life studies."
6) Research on men's sexuality.
In the above book, Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics, I examined "men's sexuality" that sometimes indirectly forces women to abort a fetus when men are not willing to have a baby. This kind of "violence" is lurking in the dark side of human nature, which should be made clear in the field of life studies. In the book, The Insensitive Man, I further analysed this dark side of men's sexuality and proposed a possible way to dismantle men's own twisted sexuality from the perspective of life studies.
7) A criticism of contemporary civilization.
>> See Section 3.
*You can see the list of my books here, which might be helpful to understand what is life studies.
*The essay, The Structure of the Inner Life of a Philosopher: The Multi-Layered Aspects of Speech, might be helpful.
2. What is philosphy of life?
Today is the age of environmental crisis and technological intervention into human life. It is desperately needed to discuss "philosophy of life" against a background of radical changes of life situation. This should be an urgent mission for contemporary philosophers.
Of course, there are "philosophie de la vie," "Lebensphilosophie" (the 19th and 20th century), and "philosophy of biology," however, wider scope is needed today concerning our philosophical traditions and the range of topics. In English, the words "philosophy of life" might mean one’s personal philosophy of life, but these words can also mean a broad philosophical field including such as environmental philosophy, philosophy of biology, philosophy of death, the study of the meaning of human life, and holistic approaches to environmental education.
We redefine philosophy of life as an academic research field that covers 1) a cross-cultural, comparative, or historical research on philosophies of life, death, and nature, and 2) a philosophical and ethical analysis of contemporary issues concerning human & non-human life in the age of modern technology, and 3) a philosophical analysis of the concepts surrounding life, death, and nature.
Philosophy of life constitutes one of the most important pillars of life studies. The fundamental task of philosophy of life is to think deeply about the question, "What is life, death, and nature?" Philosophy of life was a major branch of philosophy in ancient times in Europe and Asia, however, it seems to have almost disappeard from the scene of contemporary philosophy. There is no entry of "philosophy of life" in major encyclopedias.
Today, people's interest in bioethics, terminal care, and environmental issues is rapidly growing. It is time to reconstruct philosophy of life as a branch of contemporary philosophy.
The following lists are some of the research topics I have in mind.
1) Philosophical inquiry into some basic concepts concerning life, death, and nature
The main task of philosophy of life is to deeply think about concepts concerning life, death, and nature. For example, we are all going to die sooner or later, but what does this mean to us exactly? Surprisingly, this is an extremely hard qestion to answer. This question is closely connected with another one, "what happens when I die?" But we cannot know anything certain about this question. Hence, the question of life studies would be like this, "What is the meaning of "limited life" when we do know nothing about life after death?" We have to make clear other important questions in the field of philosophy of life, such as "What is life without regret?", "We are all going to die in the end, so why must we live?" "What is the difference between "life" and "existence"?", and so on. "Life without regret" would probably mean the situation that I can really believe that I am happy to have been born when I face my own death, but is that really a correct interpretation? Some of the topics were discussed in the book, Painless Civilization (2003). Research on images of life mentioned in the section 1 would be of great help. A further examination of these topics has been done in my Japanese paper, "What is Life Studies?" (2007).
2) Three natures of human life
See guiding concepts 7. I believe that further investigation on this topic will provide us with a new research perspective on environmental philosophy and environmental ethics. I am planning to write a new paper that will enlarge my former works on this topic.
3) The idea of "the fundamental sense of security"
See guiding concepts 2 and Morioka's works 5 above. We need to make clear what this concept really means in terms of philosophy. For example, the difference between "the fundamental sense of security" and "human dignity," or the difference between "the fundamental sense of security" and "basic human rights" should be clarified.
4) Relationship and irreplaceability
See guiding concepts 6 above. I called this the metaphysics of "relationship and irreplaceability" in this paper and in the last chapter of Brain Dead person. This concept needs more clarification.
5) Social philosophy based on life studies
The ultimate aim of life studies is to help us live our limited lives without regret. We have to make clear what kind of social principles and social systems are needed in order to achieve this goal, and make clear how they are different from other social theories. Future research.
6) Life and ownership
What is the conceptual relationship between "I" and "life"? People who justify suicide may insist that "one's life" belongs to him/herself, but is this the same as saying that the person owns his/her "life"? The problem of "life and ownership" would probably one of the most important research topics in philosophy of life. This has a close connection with the question "What is the relationship between "body" and "ownership"?," which was scrutinized by Shin'ya Tateiwa's epoch-making book, On Private Property (in Japanese) .
7) The problem of killing and/or eating other creatures
We eat meat, fish, and vegitables. We kill animals and plants for food. Most modern philosophers have justified this kind of killing and eating, but is this really justifiable from the viewpoint of life studies? Some environmental philosophers insist that all life forms on the earth are equally valuable, but if this is true, then what we are doing to creatures should be severely criticized. Some philosophers distinguish sentient animals and nonsentient creatures, but isn't this a convenient excuse for humans? With the help of biology, ecology and anthropology, we have to tackle this difficult problem in the field of philosophy of life.
There are a number of other philosophical questions in addition to the topics listed above. And in order to fully investigate difficult questions in philosophy of life, we need to study the ideas and insights of great philosophers in the past. My colleagues and I established a small research center, Research Institute for Contemporary Philosophy of Life , at Osaka Prefecture University, and began to set up a place to discuss philosophy of life inside and outside the college. We are planning to publish the academic journal, The Journal of Philosophy of Life , from the year 2011. See also my introductory essay,
In Search of a Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society: An Introduction (2010).
* Personally, I do not have a specific religion. I am agnostic, but I have a keen interest in religious approaches.
3. What is painless civilization?
Life studies urges us to rethink the whole system of contemporary civilization because it doesn't seem to provide us with a sufficient opportunity to live lives without regret both in developed countries and developing countries. The criticism of contemporary civilization should be required in life studies.
In the book, Painless Civilization: A Philosophical Critique of Desire (2003), I fundamentally criticized the negative aspects of contemporary civilization in terms of life studies, especially that of the USA and Japan. The endless tendency in our civilization to eliminate pain and suffering makes us totally lose sight of the meaning of life that is indispensable to human beings. I examined our desire, and divided it into two categories, "the desire of the body" and "the desire of life." I am planning to translate the whole book and publish in the near future. For the time being, see the essence of the book in the paper, Painless Civilization and Fundamental Sense of Security (2005).
Recently, I am beginning to think that I will have to write the part two of Painless Civilization.
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