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The most controversial book I have ever written. The endless tendency to eliminate pain and suffering makes us totally lose sight of the meaning of life that is indispensable to human beings. How to battle against painless civilization? The new concept "painless civilization" is introduced, and our contemporary civilization is fundamentally criticized. Many book reviews appeared. 12,000 copies have been sold. A revolutionary idea about the philosophy of desire is discussed. Korean translation was published in 2005.
Preface Chapter 1 What is Painless Civilization? Chapter 2 Condition of Love in Painless Civilization Chapter 3 Painless Stream Chapter 4 Self-dismantling in the Darkness Chapter 5 From the Desire of the Body to the Desire of Life Chapter 6 Trap of Naturalized Technology Chapter 7 Death of Myself and Painless Civilization Chapter 8 Painless Civilization as a Self-healing System Tetsuya Miyazaki - "This is a strange book. This massive book is written in a strange style, which slips through between sanity and madness...." (Asahi Shimbun Newspaper Nov.16, 2003) >> Read more Toru Koga - "This book draws the readers into a trance by the repetition of the same motif.... Its description burns out readers' minds, and transforms them into other new forms...." (Tosho Shimbun Newspaper Dec.27, 2003) >> Read more Yutaka Takahashi - "We have concentrated on acquiring civilization without pain and suffering, or "painless civilization," but what we have actually got might be a "nightmare" -- this is the question Morioka poses...." (Mainichi Simbun Newspaper Jan.12, 2004) >> Read more Book reviews also appeared in Nikkei Shimbun Newspaper(Nov.9), Tokyo Shimbun Newspaper(Nov.9), Sankei Shimbun Newspaper(Nov.24), Kyodo Tsushin(Nov.9), etc.. Commentary Haruka Miki - "Morioka’s painless civilization and the moral implications of such a civilization," in Risk Management and Humans - From Social Perspectives-, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan, Faculty of Social Sciences, BA thesis. (2005) >> Read more The elimination of pain and the seeking of pleasure seem to be the ultimate aims of our civilization. However, paradoxically, the endless tendency to eliminate pain and suffering makes us totally lose sight of the meaning of life that is indispensable to human beings. This sign can be seen in contemporary educational problems, mental illnesses people are suffering in an affluent society, and even in recent bizarre murders. The author analyzes such social issues as prenatal diagnosis of a fetus which aims to avoid the birth of disabled children, our effort to manage the environment of the planet Earth, and "naturalized" technology found in reconstructed ecosystems. The author thoroughly studies "conditional love" deeply rooted in our hearts, "tamed nature" where we hardly encounter a real danger, and life in the future in which we will rarely experience unexpected happenings that may threaten the plan of our life. And in the end, the author concludes that contemporary civilization inevitably leads us to a state of the "living corpse," or "fossilized life," and calls the whole system that drives us to this miserable life, "painless civilization." 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. The desire of the body develops into a "painless stream" and permeates into our society. Painless civilization cleverly takes away the possibility of experiencing the joy of life, in exchange for pleasure, pleasantness, and comfort. As a result, it becomes fairly difficult for ordinary people to live a life without regret. Here lies the fundamental problem of contemporary civilization. The author explores a new perspective on the theory of desire in a different way from that of Freud, Lacan, Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault. And at the end of the discussion the author finally discovers the possibility of the "desire of life" that is entirely different from the "desire of the body." The author devotes all his energies to figure out how to fight against painless civilization, the essence of which no one has ever succeeded in putting into words while unconsciously noticing its existence. This book succeeded in understanding contemporary society and human beings from a wide perspective of the history of civilization. This is a great achievement of contemporary thought that has never been done by sociology, politics, ethics, or environmental studies, and this is also an excellent accomplishment of "life studies," a new research field the author has advocated for years. This book deals with truly universal problems contemporary society faces. Translation to other languages Korean translation was published in February 25, 2005, from Momento Publications, Korea. French translation of a summary of the book Transview Publications, Tokyo, Oct.5,2003, 460pages, 3800yen, written in Japanese
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