Reconsideration of desire, violence, freedom, and spirituality

5. Reconsideration of desire, violence, freedom, and spirituality
Life studies strongly reconsiders our “desire” and “violence” that constitute the basic driving force of contemporary civilization. We keep away from the simple affirmation of them, or from extreme abstinence. We criticize them and try to find a way of overcoming our desire and violence. We distinguish "superficial freedom" that supports modern civilization from "rich freedom" that leads us to the real pleasure of life. We seek for "post-religious spirituality" that is not based on a particular religion.

Note: This is the main task of researchers on life studies. I advocated “post-religious spirituality” in my book, How to live in Post-religious Age. I do not aim to deny religion. I wish to have a dialogue between life studies and religious wisdom in mutual respect.

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All living things on the earth are...

4. Relationship and irreplaceability
All beings in the universe, especially all living things on the earth, are incorporated into the fundamental “relationships.” They can not exist without these relationships. At the same time, every being in these relationships is fundamentally “irreplaceable” to each other. In life studies we view everything from the perspective of correlation between "relationship" and "irreplaceability."Environmental issues and philosophy of life & death should be considered from this perspective.


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How can we face our own death?

3. Meaning of life
Our life in this world is limited. We live this limited life and die sooner or later. One of the most important aims of life studies is to contemplate how to live in modern society without regret. The questions such as "How should I live?" "What is the meaning of life?" "How can we face our own death?" are examples of the central questions of life studies. Deep philosophical understanding of life and death must be the basis of the criticism of contemporary civilization.

Note: An important thesis of life studies is that in order to understand the deep structure of contemporary civilization we must first reconsider one's own life and one's own self in everyday reality. I discussed this topic in my book, How to live in a Post-religious Age.The first step of life studies is to reconsider one's own self. By the word "self" I mean his/her way of thinking, living, feeling, and existing, that is to say, what you are actually doing in everyday life. You must gaze at your real self that you have skillfully concealed from yourself and never want to look at. In this process your self will be dismantled, and your existence will start transforming itself. Our way of thinking and living must be changed. Life studies is the wisdom that supports our attempts to change the direction of our lives and our civilization.

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Inner desire to live a comfortable life

2. Criticism of contemporary civilization
It is our contemporary civilization that has created bioethical & environmental issues, and today’s psychological crisis. Modern civilization is characterized by scientific technology and capitalism. Life studies connects the criticism of modern civilization with issues concerning life, death, and nature. Life studies sheds light on the nature of modern civilization, and shows a way to overcome the negative effects of scientific technology and capitalism.

Note: Bioethics often lacks this kind of criticism.
Life studies criticizes

* our inner desire to live a comfortable life as long as possible

* the social systems that enable us to pursue this desire

* our self-deception that keeps our eyes away from the dark side of the mind

* scientific technology and capitalism that provide us with transient pleasure and superficial freedom

* contemporary civilization, especially that of North America and Japan, which kills our wisdom

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Study as a form of wisdom

*This is a rough draft written in 2000.
*Please see an edited version in this paper, 2003.

The Declaration of Life Studies: Six Proposals
Nov.19, 2000 by Masahiro Morioka (International Network for Life Studies)

1. Study as a form of wisdom
Life studies is a vivid movement of our wisdom in which we explore the meaning of life, death and nature, struggle against our inner desire, and try to find a way of resolving contemporary issues concerning life, such as the genetic manipulation of human life, the exploitation of the environment, and many other problems we ourselves have created through the centuries.

Note: Life studies is not "science" in the contemporary sense of the word. Life studies is wisdom, not objective knowledge. The wisdom of life studies is subjective, but it is highly synthesized. The aim of science is to increase the objective knowledge. Life studies does not have such an aim. The important thing for life studies is to transform ourselves and our civilization, to "express" what we have learnt from our own life experiences, and to communicate with each other. A positive reassessment of subjective wisdom is needed. We will have to create a new methodology for the study of life that is completely different from that of "modern science". Life studies resembles "philosophy" in its original sense in ancient Greece.

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How is this different from religious approach?

How is this different from religious approach?

I do not affirm or deny religion. I believe that we can talk about spirituality and the meaning of life without using religious language. Life studies should be a project in which people with and without religion get together to communicate and learn from each other. Personally, I do not have a specific religion. I am an agnostic.

Going to set up an academic journal, an association, or an institute?
What we want is "network," not an academic association or an institute. A bureaucratic and/or hierarchical system kills the "life" of life studies. Borderless network of life studies is preferable. Online Journal of Life Studies could be a future possibility. We have a mailing list for a life studies research group. Please do not hesitate to join us.

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I am not satisfied with applied ethics

What is the aim of life studies?

Our ultimate aim is to live in this society without regret. In order to do that, we have to reconsider the meaning of our own life and death seriously. In this materialistic, capitalistic society deeply influenced by scientific technology, we are apt to forget the meaning of life and the value of our existence. We have to fundamentally criticize the negative aspects of contemporary civilization, scientific technology, and capitalism. Gender, sexuality, violence, war, and ecology are also important topics of life studies. We need wisdom and mutual support on the intelectual level. This is why life studies is needed.

But, we have already had bioethics and environmental ethics.

At first I studied bioethics and environmental ethics, but soon I realized that they had a fatal flaw. 1) Bio-medical ethics was separated from environmental ethics. 2) Bioethics did not pose questions about "the meaning of life" and "the nature of contemporary civilization." 3) They concentrated on "ethics," and seemed to make light of other approaches. Hence, I concluded that we need another approach to this topic. I am not satisfied with applied ethics.

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Biology, or new religion?

Biology, or new religion?

Neither.Life studies is an academic research. It would probably be classified as humanities. It seeks to connect academic research and researcher's own life, because we study "life" but at the same time we ourselves are "life." We can see an interesting self-reference structure here. Life studies is an open-ended project similar to women's studies, disability studies, and peace studies. Pro-life Christian organizations and Yoga groups often use the word "life," but we are not one of them.

But, what is "life" anyway?

"Human life" and "other forms of life on earth." The word "life" has a variety of meanings and implications. For example, human life means not only the state of being alive but also one's journey through life. We believe that life, death, and nature are closely connected with one another. (See my paper on ideas of life).

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Negative aspects of contemporary civilization

Life studies urges us to rethink the whole system of contemporary civilization because it doesn't seem to provide us with sufficient opportunity to live a life without regret both in developed countries and developing countries. The critique of contemporary civilization should be included 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 will translate this book into English and upload to this site. Many bookreviews and commentary have appeared since publication in Japan. I would like to know your response to the concept of "painless civilization."

For more details please visit a special page of Painless Civilization.

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The problem of killing and eating meat, fish, vegitables

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 philosophies 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.

* I am planning to write a book on philosophy of life. And as a preparation for the book, I will publish some essays and papers. I would like to communicate with the readers concerning these topics.
* Personally, I do not have a specific religion. I am an agnostic, but I have a keen interest in religious approaches. We don't have any special relationship with pro-life Christians or Yoga groups.
* This section was written in 2004.

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The problem of "life and ownership"

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 attain 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 Shinya Tateiwa's epoch-making book, On Private Property.

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Human dignity

2) Three natures of human life
See guiding concepts 7. I think I have yet to investigate this topic more philosophically. This would provide us with a new research perspective on environmental philosophy and ethics. I am planning to write a new paper that enlarges my former works.

3) The idea of "the fundamental sense of security"
See guiding concepts 2 and Morioka's works 5 above.We have 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 elaboration.

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Why must we live?

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 ultimate aim of life studies is to help us live our limited lives without regret, hence, first, we have to make clear what is the exact meaning of "limited life." 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?" Life studies does not deny religion. Life studies follows a different path from religion, keeping touch with religious people with mutual respest. And we have to make clear other important questions, 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. Probably "life without regret" means that when I die I can really believe that I am happy to have been born. 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.

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Vitalism, Nietchze, and Bergson

"Philosophy of life" constitutes one of the most important pillars of life studies. The 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, especially in the context of contemporary philosophy, it disappeard from the scene. (The exceptions were vitalism, Nietchze, Bergson, and philosophy of biology). There is no category of "philosophy of life" in Yahoo! or Google .

But today, people's interest in bioethics, terminal care, and environmental issues is rapidly growing. It is time to reconstruct "philosophy of life" as a major branch of contemporary philosophy.

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Men's sexuality and violence

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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Expand the possibility of 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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The third way between religion and science

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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Human relationship oriented analysis of brain death

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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Academic research and researcher's own life

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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An untouchable area in human life

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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Criticism of science in terms of 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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Fate of social reform movements

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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Criticism of 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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Knowledge, intellect, and wisdom to support life

"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 the nature of human life?

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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Three layers of personal identity

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."

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Criticism of contemporary society, civilization, and scientific technology

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.

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Confrontation with our own desire and evil

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."

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How to live 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.

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What is Life Studies
(2004)
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