Last Updated
May 12, 2022
Email
 Painless Civilization 1 (2021)
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Confessions of a Frigid Man: A Philosopher’s Journey into the Hidden Layers of Men’s Sexuality (2017)
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Manga Introduction to Philosophy: An Exploration of Time, Existence, the Self, and the Meaning of Life (2021)
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What Is Antinatalism? And Other Essays: Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society (2021)
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About This Site
Lifestudies.Org is a website run by Masahiro Morioka, a professor of philosophy and ethics at Waseda University and the editor-in-chief of Journal of Philosophy of Life. He proposes new philosophical disciplines: philosophy of life and life studies.
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Philosophy of Life and Life Studies
Philosophy of life is an academic discipline that deals with philosophical issues surrounding life, death, and nature. Life studies is a study method that can only be accomplished by "never detaching oneself from the subject being investigated".
>> Detailed explanation about philosophy of life and life studies
Books
List of books
English Books
Recent Japanese Books
Papers and Essays
List of papers and essays
> Recently uploaded articles
The Cruelty of Living in a Painless Civilization (Interview, 2022)
An interview with Masahiro Morioka about painless civilization.
Pleasure, Suffering, and Painless Civilization (Interview, 2022)
Beyza Şen and Ali Tacar's interview with Masahiro Morioka on painless civilization and his recent works.
Animated Persona: The Ontological Status of a Deceased Person Who Continues to Appear in This World (2021)
In this paper, I propose the concept of the “animated persona,” a soundless voice that says “I am here” and appears on the surface of someone or something. This concept can bring clarity to the experience of perceiving a kind of personhood on a corpse, a wooden mask, or even a tree.
Can Artificial Intelligence Philosophize? (2021)
A short essay that discusses whether it is possible for AI to do philosophy in its true sense of the word.
What Is Birth Affirmation?: The Meaning of Saying “Yes” to Having Been Born (2021)
This
is an outline of the concept of "birth affirmation", which means the state of mind in which I can say from the bottom of my heart that I am truly glad that I have been born. In short, it means to be able to say “Yes” to my having been born.
What Is Antinatalism?: Definition, History, and Categories (2021)
Antinatalism is the thought that all human beings or all sentient beings should not be born. In this paper, I briefly summarize the history of antinatalistic thoughts and propose a set of categories on antinatalism and related thoughts.
A Solipsistic and Affirmation-Based Approach to Meaning in Life (2019)
In this paper, I make two arguments: 1) There is a solipsistic layer in meaning in life, and 2) the heart of meaning in life can be dynamically incorporated into the affirmation of having been born into this world, which I call “birth affirmation.”
Philosophy, Manga, and Ōmori Shōzō (2018)
An examination of Morioka's Manga Introduction to Philosophy and Ōmori Shōzō's philosophical writings. With Pierre Bonneels.
The Trolley Problem and the Dropping of Atomic Bombs (2017)
In this paper, I show that the dropping of atomic bombs was a typical example of the events that contained the logic of the trolley problems in their decision-making processes and justifications, and secondly, I discuss five aspects of “the problem of the trolley problem".
Philosophy of Life in Contemporary Society (2017)
An outline of "philosophy of life" as a philosophical discipline.
Manga and Philosophy
: Why Was the Book “Manga Introduction to Philosophy” Written? (2015)
A PowerPoint PDF presentated at the
first conference of the European Network on Japanese Philosophy, Barcelona, Spain.
Is Meaning in Life Comparable?
: From the Viewpoint of ‘The Heart of Meaning in Life’ (2015)
The aim of this paper is to propose a new approach to the question of meaning in life by criticizing Thaddeus Metz’s objectivist theory in his book Meaning in Life: An Analytic Study. I demonstrate that “the heart of meaning in life” cannot be compared with other people’s meaning in life.
Feminism, Disability, and Brain Death: Alternative Voices from Japanese Bioethics (2015)
In this paper, the ideas of “the swaying of the confused self” in the field of feminism, “inner eugenic thought” concerning disability, and “human relationship-oriented approaches to brain death” that appeared in Japanese bioethics are discussed.
Why Beyond Bioethics?: The Reaction of a Japanese Philosopher to American Bioethics (2015)
-- New Perspectives in Japanese Bioethics, pp.73-86. (You can read some parts of the paper on Google Books. The full paper will be uploaded to Lifestudies.org soon.)
The Review of Life Studies
A collection of articles written by Masahiro Morioka and his friends.
Video Recordings
List of videos
> Recently uploaded Videos
Animated persona and the existence of dead persons
Grief: A Study of Human Emotional Experience, May 12, 2022.
A Traumatic Rupture in Life and the Affirmation of Having Been Born
Masahiro Morioka's YouTube Channel, February 12, 2022.
Is Birth Negation Held by Atheistic Antinatalists a Kind of Religious Belief?
Masahiro Morioka's YouTube Channel, June 27, 2021.
The Exploring Antinatalism Podcast #28 - Masahiro Morioka
Aired on February 2, 2021.
What Is Birth Affirmation? The Meaning of Saying ‘Yes’ to Having Been Born
Third International Conference on Philosophy and Meaning in Life, University of Birmingham, July 23, 2020 (online).
[Tokyo Philosophy Project 03] Rivka Weinberg talks about "philosophy of procreation " with Masahiro Morioka
Recorded on October 6, 2019.
Tokyo Philosophy Project (YouTube)
Masahiro Morioka's YouTube Channel
Academic Journal
Journal of Philosophy of Life
A peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in the philosophy of life, death, and nature, supported by the the Waseda Institute of Life and Death Studies, Waseda University.
Research Project
Tokyo Philosophy Project
A research project supported by the Waseda Institute of Life and Death Studies, Waseda University.
SNSs
 Facebook - Masahiro Morioka
twitter - masa_morioka
 Philpapers - masahiro-morioka
 Academia.edu
 ResearchGate
Email
Email
Special Reports
Special Report: No.1
Brain Death and Transplantation in Japan
Special Report: No.2
Japanese Responses to the World Trade Center Attack
Special Report: No.3
Bioethics around the World
Special Report: No.4
Herbivore Men
Other pages
Japanese website 
Japanese version of LIFESTUDIES.ORG.
French website 
French version of LIFESTUDIES.ORG.
Links
List of websites made more than 10 years ago.
Older pages
(c) LIFESTUDIES.ORG 1999 -
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