Masahiro Morioka

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For the politician, see Masahiro Morioka (politician).
Masahiro Morioka
Born (1958-09-25) September 25, 1958 (age 65)
Philosophy of life, metaphysics, ethics, men's studies
, civilization studies
Notable ideas
Painless civilization, life studies, frigid man

Masahiro Morioka (森岡 正博, Morioka Masahiro, born September 25, 1958) is a Japanese philosopher, who has contributed to the fields of philosophy of life, bioethics, gender studies, media theory, and civilization studies. He is a professor of philosophy and ethics at

frigidity, and Lessons in Love for Herbivore Men, one of the books that helped popularize the term "herbivore men". He is the editor-in-chief of Journal of Philosophy of Life, an associate editor of Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics,[2] and an organizing committee member of the International Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life.[3]

Biography

Morioka was born in

sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway that occurred in 1995[6] and the latter discusses subconscious interactions in the age of computer communications (Consciousness Communication won The Telecom Social Science award in 1993). He spent one year as a visiting scholar at Wesleyan University
, Connecticut, USA, in 1991.

In 1997, he moved to

Diet.[10]

He moved to the School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, in 2015.

Key concepts

Brain death as a human relationship

Morioka defines brain death not as a material process occurring inside the brain but as a human relationship formed between a comatose patient and his/her family members or others who surround him/her. He calls this a "human relationship oriented analysis" approach to bioethics. He claims that brain death is not necessarily human death.[11]

Consciousness communication

In his 1993 book Consciousness Communication he distinguished "consciousness communication", communication for the purpose of social interaction itself, from "information communication", communication used as a tool for conveying information. He predicted that consciousness communication would play a central role in the coming information society, and put forward the concepts of "community of anonymity" and "dream navigator".[12]

Life studies

Morioka calls his comprehensive approach to the issues of life, death, and nature "life studies". The ultimate goal of life studies is to help people to live their lives without regret. Morioka asserts that the most important aspect of life studies is never to detach ourselves from the problems we are tackling and never to think of ourselves as exceptions; He encourages us to keep our eyes on our own desires and the evil that he believes is deeply engraved in our hearts.[13]

Fundamental sense of security

The fundamental sense of security is one of the central concepts in Morioka’s philosophy. In the book Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics he describes this as "a sense of security that allows me to strongly believe that even if I had been unintelligent, ugly, or disabled, my existence in the world itself would have been equally welcomed, and whether I succeed or fail, and even if I become a doddering old man, my existence will continue to be welcomed". He asserts that this is a precondition of our being able to live our lives without regret.[14]

Painless civilization

Morioka asserts that our contemporary civilization is developing in the form of a "painless civilization". He asserts that this civilization's limitless penchant for eliminating pain and suffering makes us completely lose sight of the meaning of life that is indispensable to human beings and deprives us of the joy of life in exchange for pleasure, pleasantness, and comfort. He further claims that people in advanced countries know that they are drowning in the tide of their painless civilization but do not know how to escape from it.[15][16]

Frigid man / Herbivore men

Morioka uses the phrase "frigid man" to describe a man who suffers from sexual frigidity caused by "male frigidity" and has a (sub-conscious) attraction toward young girls, especially girls wearing school uniforms. Many Japanese adult males suffer from this condition and love to see the images of young girls in the mass media and on the Internet. This is the pathology hidden behind the Japanese male's "Lolita complex".[17] In Morioka's writings, "herbivore men" are timid young Japanese men who are inexperienced and unassertive in love and sex. Just after the publication of Morioka's book, Lessons in Love for Herbivore Men, 2008, the term "herbivore men" became a buzz word in Japan and was reported worldwide.[18]

Philosophy of life

The philosophy of life is a new discipline in contemporary philosophy that aims to examine the topics of life, death, and nature from various philosophical angles. It widens the scope of the 19th century's Lebensphilosophie and encompasses contemporary bioethics, environmental philosophy, philosophy of biology, biopolitics, the study of the meaning of human life, and other areas of research.[19]

Birth affirmation

This is one of the key concepts in Morioka's philosophy of life. Birth affirmation means to be able to say yes, from the bottom of our hearts, to the fact that we have been born. Morioka distinguishes "birth affirmation" from similar concepts such as "survival affirmation" and "affirmation of one's whole life". He considers "birth negation" as the worst form of human evil.[20]

Animated persona

The soundless voice saying "I am here" that appears on the surface of something or someone. Morioka argues that it appears on a corpse, a wooden mask, or even a tree, as a kind of personhood. [21]

Publications

Books (English)

  • 2017 Confessions of a Frigid Man: A Philosopher's Journey into the Hidden Layers of Men's Sexuality
    ISBN 978-1-5424-4717-1 PDF
    Tokyo Philosophy Project, Open Access Book
  • 2021 Manga Introduction to Philosophy: An Exploration of Time, Existence, the Self, and the Meaning of Life
    ISBN 978-4-9908668-5-3 PDF
    Tokyo Philosophy Project, Open Access Book
  • 2021 Painless Civilization 1: A Philosophical Critique of Desire PDF Tokyo Philosophy Project, Open Access Book
  • 2021 What Is Antinatalism? And Other Essays: Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society
    ISBN 978-4-90-151018-9
    Tokyo Philosophy Project

Books (English, Edited by Morioka)

Books (Japanese, incomplete)

Selected English papers

  • 1991 The Concept of Life in Contemporary Japan. (Former title: The Concept of Inochi) PDF
  • 2001 Reconsidering Brain Death: A Lesson from Japan's Fifteen Years of Experience. PDF at the Wayback Machine (archived June 14, 2006)
  • 2005 Painless Civilization and Fundamental Sense of Security: A Philosophical Challenge in the Age of Human Biotechnology. PDF
  • 2011 Natural Right to Grow and Die in the Form of Wholeness: A Philosophical Interpretation of the Ontological Status of Brain-dead Children. PDF
  • 2011 Narrative Responsibility and Moral Dilemma. PDF With Takanobu Kinjo
  • 2013 A Phenomenological Study of “Herbivore Men.” PDF
  • 2015 Feminism, Disability, and Brain Death: Alternative Voices from Japanese Bioethics. PDF
  • 2015 Is Meaning in Life Comparable?: From the Viewpoint of ‘The Heart of Meaning in Life’. PDF
  • 2017 Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society. PDF
  • 2017 The Trolley Problem and the Dropping of Atomic Bombs. PDF
  • 2019 A Solipsistic and Affirmation-Based Approach to Meaning in Life. PDF
  • 2021 What Is Antinatalism?: Definition, History, and Categories. PDF
  • 2021 What Is Birth Affirmation?: The Meaning of Saying “Yes” to Having Been Born PDF
  • 2021 Animated Persona: The Ontological Status of a Deceased Person Who Continues to Appear in This World PDF

References

  1. ^ You can see their lists on いい本のまとめ, Kinokuniya, and other websites. Book reviews published in Asahi Newspaper can be found in the book Philosophy, Trauma, Sexuality: Book Reviews 1986-2001, 2015. His texts also appear in high-school textbooks, for example, 筑摩書房"精選現代文B".
  2. ^ EJAIB website
  3. ^ Conference's site
  4. ^ Interview in 哲学者に会いにゆこう２ 2017.
  5. ^ Masahiro Morioka, “The Structure of the Inner Life of a Philosopher: The Multi-Layered Aspects of Speech,” in Tetsuo Yamaori (ed.) Nihonjin no Shisô no Jusôsei: Watashi no Shiza kara Kangaeru. Chikuma Shobo. April 1998, pp.77-100. (In Japanese)
  6. ^ Interview "科学万能改める時期" 北海道新聞 March 16, 1996. "同世代の「生」語る３０代" 読売新聞 June 29, 1996.
  7. ^ “Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics” Publisher’s webpage
  8. ^ Takahiro Miura "「出口のない道」のその先 : 森岡正博『無痛文明論』によせて" PDF
  9. ^ [See https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/05/05/national/social-issues/professor-examines-lolita-complex-first-looking-experience/#.WhqFulVl-po Japan Times] etc.
  10. ^ 子どもの脳死と臓器移植 Diet of Japan Report, February 2004.
  11. ^ Margaret Lock Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death 2001, University of California Press. Reconsidering Brain Death: A Lesson from Japan's Fifteen Years of Experience. "PDF" (PDF). Archived from the original on June 14, 2006. Retrieved 2011-06-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. ^ Consciousness Communication.
  13. ^ Epilogue of Confessions of a Frigid Man.
  14. ^ Yasunobu Nozaki, "Review of Masahiro Morioka. Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics: A New Perspective on Brain Death, Feminism, and Disability" Disability Studies Quarterly, 28(3), 2008. Painless Civilization and Fundamental Sense of Security: A Philosophical Challenge in the Age of Human Biotechnology. HTML. 鷲田清一『京都新聞』February 14, 2002.
  15. ^ Painless Civilization 1: A Philosophical Critique of Desire
  16. ^ Interview "たのしい不便" 毎日新聞 October 15, 1999. Interview "「無痛文明」から脱出できますか" 産経新聞 February 15, 2000. "痛み失う現代文明" 日本経済新聞 November 22, 1998.
  17. ^ Confessions of a Frigid Man: A Philosopher's Journey into the Hidden Layers of Men's Sexuality PDF. Japan Times, MAY 5, 2017.
  18. ^ "Blurring the boundaries" Japan Times, MAY 10, 2009. Nicolae Raluca, "Sōshoku(kei) Danshi:The (Un)gendered Questions on Contemporary Japan" Romanian Economic and Business Review 9(31), 2014. Ioana Fotache, "Matters of the Flesh: Japanese Herbivore Men and the Asexuality Umbrella" 2016.
  19. ^ "Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society" PDF
  20. ^ Tanjō Kōtei to wa Nani ka HTML
  21. ^ Animated Persona: The Ontological Status of a Deceased Person Who Continues to Appear in This World

Further reading

External links

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