音楽・美術から形而上学まで、生命の繊細なあらわれを巡り、いのちを育み生かす、宗教的霊性の原像と動態を探る。.

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the international discussions on life and scientific technology by examining the images and concepts of life in contemporary Japan. In English the word Inochi can be rendered as "life". However, the nuances of the Japanese term differ in certain cases, and therefore I have chosen to use the term much as is. I first discuss the linguistic meanings of the word, and then consider several important features of the images of (...) inochi that have appeared in publications and responses from questionnaires on this topic. Some philosophical and metaphysical interpretations of the concept of inochi are then proposed. Finally a brief outline of the study of life is presented, suggesting a new way to approach bioethics and discussions on environmental issues. This paper is a republication of Morioka (1991) in "Japan Review" under the permission of "Japan Review" and "Global Bioethics.". (shrink)

科学技術の発展とともに、バイオエシックスはいつも新しい課題に直面し、挑戦し続けている。このバイオエシックスの軌跡を「環境・自然」、「こどもの医療」、「生死の決断」等、私たちのいのちに関わる重要なテーマ に焦点をあてて検討、考察し、問題解決への提言を行った。.

揺らぐ「生老病死」―現代とはどんな時代か。等身体の生命観と人類の未来図をどう描くか。さまざまなバックグラウンドをもつ論客たちが縦断無尽に語る白熱の講義録。.

現代人が直面する、安楽死、臓器移植、死刑といった倫理問題に、徳、善、良心、愛を基礎として、読者と共に考えぬく強靱な思索。.

滝沢教授の古稀を祝して捧げられる論文集。生と死をめぐる法的問題と裁判と法をめぐる諸問題について、学恩を受けた気鋭の学者が執筆。.

「自り然る」「直ら耕す」「『対立』から『互性』へ」...いのちの営みとともに生きる共生社会のありようを新しい言葉に盛った安藤昌益。「自由であれ、つつましくあれ」未曾有の3.11災禍を経てなお、放射能下 の今を生きる私たちに昌益から届けられたメッセージ。.

40億年に及ぶとされる、地球における生命の歴史。共通の祖先から進化した生きものたちは、多様でありながら共通点もあわせ持っています。いのちとは何か?いのちはどのようにして生まれたのか?どのように考えられ てきたのか?その歴史をひもときながら、私たちの来た道と、これから行く道を、探ってみましょう。.

多様性とエコロジーの時代を先取りした江戸期の巨人、その思想のエッセンス 伝統的・土着的でありながら、時空を越えたスケールと普遍性を持ち、21世紀においても時代の先行者たりうる思想家、安藤昌益。 深まる昌益研究の最新動向を踏まえ、自然哲学、平等論、歴史観、平和思想など多彩な切り口から昌益思想の核心に迫る。 戦争と災害の時代を乗り越える叡智がここにある──.

The objective of this paper is to contribute to the international discussions on life and scientific technology by examining the images and concepts of life in contemporary Japan. In English the word Inochi can be rendered as "life". However, the nuances of the Japanese term differ in certain cases, and therefore I have chosen to use the term much as is. I first discuss the linguistic meanings of the word, and then consider several important features of the images of (...) inochi that have appeared in publications and responses from questionnaires on this topic. Some philosophical and metaphysical interpretations of the concept of inochi are then proposed. Finally a brief outline of the study of life is presented, suggesting a new way to approach bioethics and discussions on environmental issues. (shrink)

One of Kant’s famous questions about being human asks, “What may I hope?” This question places individual life within an encompassing horizon of human history and speculates on the possibility of perspectives beyond death. In our time mortality is generally repressed, though the development of personal consciousness is closely linked to realization of one’s finitude. This raises especially urgent questions for children, and they are left to deal with them alone. From the time awareness begins, knowledge that death can occur (...) at any moment is one of the a priori determinants of being alive; that is, life is structured in advance by its future pastness. . According to Max Scheler, death reveals itself as a necessary and manifest constituent of all possible inner experiences in the life process. The cultural and individual interpretations of death’s meaning and consequences derived from this insight opened up an ample space for imagined possibilities of “continued existence,” which affected approaches to life. In our research project “Inochi – The Concept of Life after Death in Children’s Construction of the World. A German-Japanese Comparison,” carried out with German and Japanese research support, we examine concepts developed within the community of inquiry concerning “the individual’s afterlife” as soul, angel, animal, star, etc. In this we want to examine whether a globalized media environment leads to a cultural convergence in children’s ideas, and whether there are differences between views of girls and boys. Relevance of ideas about death is seen in the example of Japanese children who, believing in reincarnation chose “killing oneself” with relative frequency as a problem-solving strategy. Our contribution will present children’s imaginings using the drawings they created within this framework, since these can be interpreted as expressions of “narrative philosophizing,” especially for the Japanese children. Here we follow Mark Johnson who says” Human beings are imaginative synthesizing animals” . These imaginations make up a large part of our understanding, not just our beliefs, but rather our socially constructed way of being in and inhabiting a world. (shrink)