On Men's Sexuality

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. I am going to publish a new book, in 1994, on men's sexuality and its relationship with life studies.

7) A critique of contemporary civilization.
I published the book Painless Civilization: A Philosophical Critique of Desire, (2003), and fundamentally criticized contemporary civilizaion. >> See Section 3.

*You can see the list of my books here, which might be helpful to understand what is life studies.
*About the more detailed development of Morioka's philosophy, see The Structure of the Inner Life of a Philosopher: The Multi-Layered Aspects of Speech.
*Concerning Morioka's works on other themes, please see the above list and/or Japanese pages.
*This section was written in 2002-2004.

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Feminism and Disability Studies would change Bioethics

5) The fundamental sense of security.
In the book Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics: A New Perspective on Brain Death, Feminism, and Disability (2001), I discussed the idea of "the fundamental sense of security" as a key term for thinking about the negative psychological impact of new eugenics. You can see the summary in this paper. I believe this term will be one of the basic concepts of "life studies." And I analysed bioethics literature in Japan in 1970s, and demonstrated that feminism and disability studies would change bioethics into a more attractive discipline. This book includes other important ideas. This book succeeded in introducing life studies approaches into the field of bioethics and expanded the possibility of bioethics in Japan, and this is probably the first attempt of this kind in the world.

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Ways to seek "Spirituality" and "Meaning of Life" outside Religion

2) Research on images of life among ordinary people.
The 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 ethics 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 examined ways to seek "spirituality" and "meaning of life" outside religion.

4) Three natures of human life. See guiding concepts 7.

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Brain Death interpreted as A Form of "Human Relationships"

I presented the idea of life studies in 1988. 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 one by one from this year. The followings are an outline of main 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 the translation of Ch.1. Legal and sociological aspects can be found in Special Reports.

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A researcher him/herself can live his/her own life without regret

10) Connection of academic research to researcher's own life
The most important thing for life studies is that a researcher hem/herself can 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 expressed the process in the book Painless Civilization (2003). This process should lead to the transformation of the social system and our intellect.

* I plan to foster research network for life studies to communicate with each other and learn from each others' experiences. If you are interested in our project, and if you are frustrated with an existing discipline, please do not hesitate to contact us. We would like to know your ideas or plans.

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It may be time to set up an untouchable area

8) An untouchable area in human life
In the near future various advanced technologies are expected to invade the human body, the DNA, and the brain. It may be time to set up an untouchable area in human life where technological interventions will have to be prohibited. It is required to protect the untouchable area from our own desire.

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 this 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.

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A new method to handle "subjective knowledge"

7) Criticque 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," and by using this method we will be able to share important experiences and wisdom. 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.

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But we have almost always failed. Why?

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 viewpoints 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 have to know the end results of their movements, in order to think seriously about the limitation of "life studies." Future research.

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It's time to renovate "Bioethics"

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. Though 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, the environment. I wrote a series of papers in Japanese.

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Images of Life, Death and Nature

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.

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Whether people can live a life without regret

I would like to propose the following research projects.

1) Philosophy of life
Philosophy of life includes clarification of problems such as "What is life without regret?" and "Why must we live while we all die in the end?" >> See section 2

2) Critique 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

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From the perspective of correlation between "relationship" and "irreplaceability"

6) Relationship and irreplaceability
All beings in the universe, especially all living things on the earth, are incorporated into the web of “relationships.” They can not 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 the series of essays Life Torn Apart, I insisted that three natures 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 the world of living creatures from this perspective.

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"the sway of the confused self"

5) Reality of swaying I
When we encounter a situation we have never wanted to experience, especially that of 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. "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."

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"The Desire of the Body" promotes "Painless Civilization"

4) The desire of the body and the desire of life
In the book Painless Civilization I distinguished two sorts 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.

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Many people forget the layer of "The Central Axis"

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."

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Painless Civilization and Fundamental sense of security

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 this "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 with which I can strongly believe that even if I were less intelligent, ugly, or disabled, at least my existence would have been accepted equally to the world, and if I should succeed, fail, or become a doddering old man, my existence will continue to be accepted equally to the world. This is the basis of our life upon which we keep sane in this society" (cited from the book, and this paper). I believe that this is a really important concept in the coming age of new eugenics.

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Examining One's Own Life

7) Practices of life studies
There are three interrelated approaches in the practices of life studies.
a) Systematic approach: Collaborative research aiming at interdisciplinary knowledge and wisdom for life without regret.
b) Dialogue approach: Examination of existing disciplines from the viewpoint of life studies, and discussion between life studies and these disciplines.
c) Personal approach: A personal practice of examining one's own life for solving one's own private problems by using life studies concepts and methods.

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A Different Path from Science and Religion

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 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 post-religious spirituality of life, death, and nature, without using the language of religion. We help promote dialogue between life studies and religion, that is, religious approaches to life studies, and life studies approaches to religion.

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The Matrix of Life

5) Inquiry into the world of life
All life on the earth are closely connected with one another. Humans are no exception. We cannot live without killing and eating other creatures. Our live 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. Many creatures on the earth, including humans, share a lot of genes and the process of evolution, hence, our lives without regret cannot be separated from our relationships with other creatures and the natural environment. (See Concept of Inochi(life), and Life Torn Apart).

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How we can create its social system

4) Critique 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 critique of contemporary society, civilization, and scientific technology, because contemporary civilization cleverly takes away from us the meaning of life and the possibility of living a life without regret (See Painless Civilization). This critique 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 how we can create its social system. A transformation of the self without changing society is not the goal of life studies.


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We cannot escape from Desire and Evil

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 have to explore wisdom and social system to 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."

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Because We All Die Sooner or Later

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 concentrated 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" existing on the basis of ourselves, by following which we are able to live our lives without regret.

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Start from/toward My Own Life

1) My own life as a starting point and the ultimate end
The most important thing for life studies is that one's own life should be both the beginning and the end of life studies. In life studies we should never detach ourselves from the problems and 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 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. Life studies comes close to literature in this sense. Subjective knowledge is as important as objective knowledge in life studies. We need to explore the ways to share subjective knowledge among us.

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For help living without regret

"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. I want to live this life without regret. We need a variety of knowledge, intellect, and wisdom to support it. Life studies is an attempt to acquire an interdisciplinary, organized knowledge, intellect, and wisdom that help us live our limited lives without regret.

In order to attain it, we have 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 researcher's own life.

> See the definition of life and meaning of life in thefreedictionary.com

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The Guiding Concepts of Life Studies 2

4) The desire of the body and the desire of life
In the book Painless Civilization I distinguished two sorts 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 of 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. "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 can not 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 the series of essays Life Torn Apart, I insisted that three natures 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 the world of living creatures from this perspective.

and more...

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The Guiding Concepts of Life Studies 1

<The Guiding Concepts of 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 this "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 with which I can strongly believe that even if I were less intelligent, ugly, or disabled, at least my existence would have been accepted equally to the world, and if I should succeed, fail, or become a doddering old man, my existence will continue to be accepted equally to the world. This is the basis of our life upon which we keep sane in this society" (cited from the book, and this paper). I believe that this is a really 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."

>> To read more please visit:

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(2004)
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The Methodology of Life Studies 2

4) Critique 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 critique of contemporary society, civilization, and scientific technology, because contemporary civilization cleverly takes away from us the meaning of life and the possibility of living a life without regret (See Painless Civilization). This critique 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 how we can create its social system. A transformation of the self without changing society is not the goal of life studies.

5) Inquiry into the world of life
All life on the earth are closely connected with one another. Humans are no exception. We cannot live without killing and eating other creatures. Our live 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. Many creatures on the earth, including humans, share a lot of genes and the process of evolution, hence, our lives 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 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 post-religious spirituality of life, death, and nature, without using the language of religion. We help promote dialogue between life studies and religion, that is, religious approaches to life studies, and life studies approaches to religion.

7) Practices of life studies
There are three interrelated approaches in the practices of life studies.
a) Systematic approach: Collaborative research aiming at interdisciplinary knowledge and wisdom for life without regret.
b) Dialogue approach: Examination of existing disciplines from the viewpoint of life studies, and discussion between life studies and these disciplines.
c) Personal approach: A personal practice of examining one's own life for solving one's own private problems by using life studies concepts and methods.

>> To read more please visit:

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The Methodology of Life Studies 1

The followings are "the methodology of life studies" and "the guiding concepts of life studies" 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 for life studies is that one's own life should be both the beginning and the end of life studies. In life studies we should never detach ourselves from the problems and 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 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. Life studies comes close to literature in this sense. Subjective knowledge is as important as objective knowledge in life studies. We need to explore the ways to share subjective knowledge among us.

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 concentrated 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" existing on the 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 have to explore wisdom and social system to 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."

>> To read more please visit:

What is Life Studies
(2004)
(You can read the entire text)

Overview of "life studies"

"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. I want to live this life without regret. We need a variety of knowledge, intellect, and wisdom to support it. Life studies is an attempt to acquire an interdisciplinary, organized knowledge, intellect, and wisdom that help us live our limited lives without regret.

In order to attain it, we have 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 researcher's own life.

> See the definition of life and meaning of life in thefreedictionary.com

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What is Life Studies
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Bioethics and “Philosophy of Life”

I think one of the most exciting approaches in the area of bioethics is that of “philosophy,” particularly, that of “philosophy of life.” Hearing this term, you might imagine an individual’s personal perspective on life. However, I mean a broader view that can deal with humans’ life and death in contemporary society, our attitudes toward nature and creatures, and the meaning of life in the age of science, capitalism, and globalization. The criticism of painless civilization is also an important part of “philosophy of life.” Leon Kass, too, stresses that what is most needed in current bioethics is “philosophy” and a “proper anthropology.”(13) I am planning to develop the foundation of “philosophy of life” by communicating with scholars interested in this approach.(14) Philosophy of life deals with not only bioethical issues, but also such topics as environmental issues and the question of the meaning of life in contemporary society. I hope this paper will be of interest to the audience that is trying to tackle difficult and complicated problems around the world caused by contemporary society and civilization.

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Painless Civilization and Fundamental Sense of Security
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Danger of “Preventive Reduction of Pain”

What would have happened if there had been advanced prenatal screening technologies? He would have had a “healthy” baby, but in exchange for this, he would have lost the chance to attain self-transformation and to know the “precious truths of life” described above. This is the crucial point. (I made a further analysis by using the terms “the desire of the body” and “the joy of life” in the book Painless Civilization.) The more we pursue the preventive reduction of pain, the more we lose the chance to transform the basic structure of our way of thinking and being, and the more we are deprived of opportunities to know precious truths indispensable to our meaningful life. Preventive reduction of pain means preventive reduction of the possibility of “the arrival of the other” (the words of Emmanuel Levinas). It leads us to a situation where all of us live in a state of the living dead; in other words, a situation in which we are able to reduce pain and suffering, and are able to gain more pleasure and comfort. But as a result of that, we gradually come to lose the opportunity of experiencing the joy of life that comes from encountering an unwanted situation and being forced to transform ourselves to find a new way of thinking and being we have never known. Remember the discussion about the disappearance of “conviction of love,” discussed in Section 4. It is closely connected to the current topic, because to love someone means to be forced to transform one’s self, and to feel this unexpected transformation as bliss.

The above is the most significant problem that accompanies preventive reduction of pain. One may think that even if there is such a danger in preventive reduction of pain, it does not necessarily mean that we have to stop the development of this kind of technology. This might be so, but please note that what I am primarily concerned about here is not social policymaking but the fate of our contemporary civilization; in other words, the question of what we have to bear as a fate if our current civilization continues to develop in this direction. To clarify the fate of contemporary civilization, and to show a way of escape from our dark future (which, of course, might include the abolishment of certain technologies and policies) is the main criticism of a painless civilization. I believe current bioethical issues must be discussed from this point of view.

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A Piece of Story

I have a number of things to say about the development of painless civilization, but anyway, let us go back to the concept of “preventive reduction of pain” here. The biggest problem that comes from the preventive reduction of pain is that it makes us lose sight of the possibility of transforming the basic structure of our ways of thinking and being. Let us imagine the case of a disabled fetus. By developing prenatal screening systems, the probability of having disabled babies will decrease. This may be good news for those who want healthy babies; however, we have to take a closer look at the other side of this issue.

A friend of mine once told me the following story. A man, a close friend of hers, wished to have a cute healthy baby, but when his baby was born, he found it severely disabled. He was shocked. He despaired of the future of his baby and himself. The master plan for his life collapsed. He cared for his child but lost any hope for his future. However, after going through some years of experience of rearing his disabled baby, he suddenly realized that he had escaped despair somewhere along the line. It was a very strange feeling for him. While caring for his child still remained a burden, it was no longer despair. The reason for this was that his basic framework, including his way of thinking, feeling, and being, had been profoundly transformed. This transformation came about because of his encounter with the “unwanted” child, and his continuing care for the child. After experiencing this transformation, he started to feel that his life was not one of despair; hence, he never wanted to go back to life before the birth of the child, because his child taught him many precious truths of life that he had never known before. He finally gained self-affirmation of his life living with his disabled child.

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From the Perspective of Painless Civilization

From this perspective, prenatal screening and other future technologies can be seen as examples of devices for preventive reduction of pain, and these devices constitute the dynamism of painless civilization. This means that the ethics of human biotechnology can be seen, or should be seen, from the broader perspective of painless civilization. One of the reasons I use the word “civilization” is that the preventive reduction of pain, which constitutes an important pillar of current human biotechnology, actually began in ancient times when civilizations developed several thousand years ago. People started agriculture and the maintenance of the rivers in order to preventively reduce pain and suffering caused by the unexpected effects of wild nature, for example, famine and flood. Since then, we have developed big cities, built houses that typhoons cannot destroy, and have established a stable supply of food through the mass production of agricultural goods. These facilities have contributed greatly to the preventive reduction of various kinds of pain. And in an extension of this line of development, today we have a variety of pain reduction methods in our society, including that of prenatal screening.

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“Painless Civilization”

Let us examine why many people choose to abort when a congenital disability, such as Down syndrome, is found in the fetus. There are various reasons for that decision. Some would say that a severe disability will bring great suffering to the child itself in the future, and others would say that it is the duty of the parents to give birth to a baby without any special disabilities in cases where they can be screened. However, I believe that one of the strongest reasons for choosing selective abortion is be that parents tend to think that having a disabled baby may cause great pain and suffering to the parents themselves, both economically and psychologically. Many people believe that bringing up a disabled baby would take extra time, money, and hands—and more than anything else, it places a huge mental burden on them.

They try to avoid pain and suffering that may fall upon them in the future, and usually this avoidance is accomplished in a preventive way. I have called this kind of act “preventive reduction of pain” or “preventive elimination of pain.” Selective abortion and prenatal screening are good examples of preventive reduction of pain, because by using these technologies we can expect to reduce, in a preventive way, pain and suffering that would be brought about by having disabled babies. We can find a variety of acts of preventive reduction of pain in our society, from daily health care to “preventive war” carried on by the superpowers. A surveillance society that uses security cameras to prevent unforeseen crimes would be another good example. In contemporary society, we are surrounded by a number of devices to reduce pain. I call a “painless civilization” one in which the mechanism of preventive reduction of pain spreads throughout its society. Society in highly industrialized nations is now gradually turning into a “painless civilization.”

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Is "Unconditional Love" Impossible ?

This is another version of a philosophical dispute about “conditional love” and “unconditional love.” There have been many discussions about whether only unconditional love deserves the name of love (I discussed this topic elsewhere.)(11) Everyone knows that unconditional love is more beautiful and noble than conditional love, but we also know that it is nearly impossible to love someone unconditionally in real life. We have to look straight at our own egoism and desire. This does not mean that the justification of our egoism and desire is needed first and foremost, because simple justification frequently leads us in the wrong direction. What is really needed is a deliberate examination, rather than a hasty justification.

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Deprivation of “Conviction of Love”

In this society, the primary sense, “I was allowed to be born to this world under certain conditions,” is going to be stored in the deep layer of people’s consciousness. This sense erases from people’s mind a certain emotion—the emotion of love. To be loved means to be given the conviction that one’s existence is affirmed by someone even if he/she does not satisfy certain conditions; in other words, to be given the conviction that one’s existence is affirmed and welcomed just as is now the case.

However, in the society described above, it is very hard for people to acquire this kind of conviction. People are born after being examined about their quality of life, and when they give birth they impose conditions upon their children. In that society, people talk about unconditional love; yet they know that they themselves were allowed to be born because they satisfied certain “explicit” conditions imposed by their parents. They perceive the mark of “conditional love” as just beneath their own existence. “Am I, in fact, not loved by anyone?” This is the sense shared by ordinary people in an unspoken way in that society. It is the society that systematically deprives people of “conviction of love.” As is now clear, the greatest problem of prenatal screening and the genetic manipulation of unborn children is that those technologies deprive people of “conviction of love” in a crucial way. This is, I believe, what lies at the heart of an uncomfortable feeling when hearing the justification for selective abortion. Probably this feeling exists even in the hearts of the people who justify selective abortion. This should become the basis for the criticism of human reproductive medicine. It is the “possibility of love” that lies under the ethics of reproductive technology.

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Imagine a society

In the previous section, I used the words “the sense that our existence is welcomed unconditionally.” We can find similar expressions in the report of the President’s Council. The council says what is at risk is the idea that “each child is ours to love and care for, from the start, unconditionally, and regardless of any special merit of theirs or special wishes of ours.”(9) If prenatal diagnosis becomes prevalent, the report says, “the attitude of parents toward their child may be quietly shifted from unconditional acceptance to critical scrutiny.”(10) The report discusses this topic from the viewpoint of “unconditional acceptance,” and I think their insight is correct. In the book Painless Civilization, I, too, made a detailed discussion on the conditional acceptance of our children and its impact on our society.

Let us imagine a society where almost every adult accepts a set of prenatal screening tests. When a couple wants to have a baby, they make a number of fertilized eggs outside the female’s body, and scrutinize each fertilized egg one by one, using PGD techniques. After examining the characteristics of each egg, they choose a couple of eggs to be born, according to their wishes and plans about their children. What does this society look like? In such a society, people successfully come into the world after it has been confirmed that they satisfy some conditions their parents or society require. This is a society where almost everyone tacitly knows that if they had not satisfied the conditions required, they would have never been born. And when those people get married and have children, they naturally examine the genetic makeup of their fertilized eggs, and do the same thing that was once done to themselves by their parents. In this way, the act of conditional acceptance of babies is handed down from generation to generation.

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Bioethics and the Fundamental Sense of Security

Bioethics to date has not had enough discussion about the fundamental sense of security; yet I believe that this is the most serious problem raised by selective abortion and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Of course, this is not the sole factor that erodes the fundamental sense of security. Our fundamental sense of security has been eroded by a number of technologies and social systems right to the present. However, it is at least certain that current and future prenatal screening technologies will contribute to enhance the level of erosion of the sense of fundamental security. This is what I have learnt from the literature of disabled people and from discussion with them. Philosophical discussions about contemporary bioethical issues in Japan, including mine, have been greatly influenced, from the beginning, by the thoughts and actions of disabled people. In this sense, Japanese discourse might differ slightly from that of Korea and China. (Another curious factor is “feminism.”(8))

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“Fundamental Sense of Security”

The second problem is that it systematically deprives them of a sense of security and the joy of existence that we feel when we can exist without being imposed upon by anyone regarding any particular conditions. They did not use the words “sense of security,” but I believe that one of the messages they tried to express in their fierce activity can be fully grasped by using this term. If this kind of prenatal screening becomes prevalent, disabled people would come to think, “I would not have been born if my parents had undergone current prenatal screening tests,” and come to feel that “my existence is not welcomed or blessed by my parents and other people who are accepting such technology in our society.” As a result, they would feel they are utterly deprived of a very important sense of security that ordinary healthy people enjoy. Disabled activists at that time accused ordinary people of possessing “inner eugenic thought,” and concluded that this was the main cause of discrimination.

I would like to label this feeling a “fundamental sense of security.” This is the feeling that one’s existence is welcomed unconditionally. This is a sense of trust in the world and society, a sense of trust that provides us with a solid foundation to survive in our society. 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. This is the sense of trust that our existence was welcomed when we were born, and will never be denied when we become old or sick. This is a sense of security with which we can believe that we will never be glanced at by anyone with unspoken words, “I wish you were not born” or “I wish you would disappear from the world.” This is the basis of our ability to keep sane in this society. Disabled activists tried to stress that prenatal screening is “wrong” because it systematically deprives us of this fundamental sense of security.

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“I wish you were not born.”

I wrote about it elsewhere in Japanese and English;(6) hence in this paper, I would like to skip the detailed analysis of their opinions, and try to show my interpretation of their thoughts on prenatal diagnosis and disability. They discussed two problems that lurk behind prenatal diagnosis with selective abortion.

The first problem is that it psychologically disempowers existing disabled people. If such technologies become prevalent in society, many ordinary people gradually come to think in front of them, “Why were congenitally disabled people like you born in the age of prenatal screening?” and “I wish you were not born.” Surrounded by this kind of unspoken words and glances, disabled people are gradually deprived of the power to affirm themselves and the courage to live. In such a society, the majority of people would choose to abort severely disabled fetuses; to existing disabled people, this means that the majority of people do not wish to live with them. Even if they don’t speak out, their unconscious attitudes and glances would naturally express their inner thoughts about disabled people. Looking at such attitudes many times, disabled people will come to fully realize that they are unwelcome guests to the whole society, and this consciousness deprives them of self-affirmation as people with disability.(7)

This is the essence of their view when they were faced with the possibility of selective abortion performed after amniocentesis in the early 1970s. Their idea can be fully applied to future ethical problems that will be caused by PGD and other screening technologies. We can find a similar discussion in the President Council’s report. I am surprised by disabled activists’ foresight on this point. I would like to talk about this topic later from a different angle.

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“Why were you born?”

This report examines the morality of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and points out that “the goal of eliminating embryos and fetuses with genetic defects carries the unspoken implication that certain ‘inferior’ kinds of human beings—for example, those with Down syndrome—do not deserve to live.”(3) Of course the use of these technologies will remain voluntary, but “its growing use could have subtly coercive consequences for prospective parents and could increase discrimination against the ‘unfit’.”(4) The report says that there is the prospect of “diminished tolerance for the ‘imperfect,’ especially those born with genetic disorders that could have been screened out,” and as a result, disabled children and their parents might be gazed at with unspoken questions, “Why were you born?” and “Why did you let him live?” In the end, “it may become difficult for parents to resist the pressure, both social and economic, of the ‘consensus’ that children with sufficiently severe and detectable disabilities must not be born.”(5)

Their discussion reminds me of voices of Japanese disabled activists. In 1972, disabled people with cerebral palsy began a movement to fight against the government’s effort to introduce a special clause for selective abortion into the Eugenic Protection Law. They harshly criticized the government policy to annihilate disabled babies by way of prenatal diagnosis and selective abortion. They also criticized ordinary non-disabled people’s latent “egoism,” the egoism to think that disabled people do not deserve to live in our society. Disabled activists thought that our society was filled with this kind of discriminative consciousness, and that this hidden consciousness was the real problem of selective abortion.

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Painless Civilization and Bioethics

One of the most debated topics today in the field of bioethics is the ethics of manipulating human fertilized eggs, especially for the purpose of selecting a better child or producing an enhanced child. For example, so-called post-humanists encourage progress in this kind of manipulation, saying that there are no serious ethical problems with these technologies. In contrast, Leon Kass and Bill McKibben doubt the progress of these technologies, and caution that they can never offer the happiness we are seeking. In Japan, too, a similar academic discussion has begun among philosophers, bioethicists, and sociologists. In 2003, I published the book Painless Civilization, and discussed this topic from the viewpoint of “preventive reduction of pain” and of its fundamental effects on our sense of “love.”(1) After the book’s publication, there appeared a number of comments and criticisms from within and outside the academy. In this paper, I would like to outline some of the points I discussed in the book, and correlate them with discussions in current bioethical debates surrounding this topic.

Before moving on to the discussion of painless civilization, I would like to examine the ethical analysis of prenatal diagnosis in the report, Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, by the President’s Council on Bioethics published in 2003.(2) This report was written under the strong influence of the chairman, Leon Kass. Although I do not necessarily agree with Kass’s conservative ideas about abortion and the family, I believe this report is a masterpiece of recent American bioethics, particularly in that the discussion was made in terms of philosophical anthropology. (And as an Asian agnostic philosopher, I really enjoyed their Judeo-Christian flavor in their discussion about ethical issues.)

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The era of imagination

This suggests that we should pay attention to our everyday life, with all the power of our imagination, in order to grasp the shape of problems in their entirety. This means further that we will then come to an era in which we discover and solve a problem with the help of a combination of a variety of imaginative perceptions. In this sense the study of life should prove to be an intellectual activity in the era of imagination.

I have stated that the study of life must be a study by which all inochi beings can live a better life and die a better death (1988b). I believe this sentiment expresses the ultimate aim of the study of life. This paper is only a first step toward achieving such an aim.

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Everyday life and Imaginations

The problems of life in a global age concern almost all subjects, and have considerable diversity. They contain micro-level problems such as the existence [111/112] of certain molecules in a DNA sequence, and macro-level problems such as the maintenance of the biosphere of the earth. They also contain such bioethical problems as the withdrawing of life support systems from a severely handicapped newborn; and such environmental problems as toxic and radioactive substances which will condense and settle in the biosphere at a slow pace.

These problems have two features. We can, on the one hand, grasp them by paying attention to facts and situations in our daily life, because all these problems have some relationship to everyday life. For example by paying attention to the situation of everyday water and food, we can discover environmental pollution in the local areas. Japan is also beginning to encounter more and more the problem of senile or terminally ill patients who must be cared for in the home.

On the other hand, it is only possible for us to grasp most of these problems in our imagination. For example we cannot look a the defects of genes of an embryo directly. Most of us have not directly seen a brain-dead person in an Intensive Care Unit, nor have we seen the actual destruction of a rain forest. We know of these things only through books, articles, and TVprograms. Through discussions we are continuously constructing these images in our imaginations. In a sense, global environmental issues and the problems of advanced medicine exist only in our imaginations, as we have no real experience of them.

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Between humans and life

I have defined the study of life as a study which researches the present relationship between humans and life, and also the types of relationship we should form in the future, in the context of modern civilization with science and technology (1988a). In order to do this, we need to study the history of the relationships between humans and life (inochi beings) and clarify the historical meanings of these relationships. For example, we should study the history of agriculture, medicine, religion, and war from the viewpoint of the study of life. We also need to study present issues concerning life, by investigating gene technology, bioethics, global environmental problems, our attitudes toward nuclear weapons and nuclear energy plants, and so on. Then we should go on to propose what relationship we should form with life, scientific technology and civilization in the future. At the same time, there is also a need to study images and concepts of life from the past to the present. We can study the present images and ideas of life through sociological and ethical investigations from around the world. We should also examine the world history of ideas involving the concepts or understandings of life. Moreover, we are always faces with the subject of how to live and die on this limited earth in finite space and time. To address this we must reexamine our lifestyles in modern society as well as our ways of dying.

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A comprehensive approach

Today’s problems concerning life share a number of closely connected factors. Therefore we can neither solve nor even grasp these problems if we persist in just one academic specialty and restrict our attention to the subjects that are supposed to belong to it. Only a comprehensive approach will yield rewarding results (66).

In order to research such problems comprehensively, I have proposed that a number of researchers who are interested in this approach (this should include such people as academicians, journalists, specialists, and lay persons) form research networks and then exchange arguments and information. I have also proposed that these networks should work as non-governmental organizations, and not constitute a fixed academy or discipline.

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'The study of life’

Before closing, I would like to describe here a brief outline of ‘the study of life’ which I have advocated since 1988, and which provides the framework for this paper.