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Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics
: A New Perspective on Brain Death, Feminism, and Disability (2001)

Masahiro Morioka

This book illustrates a new way of thinking about bioethical issues, that is, a life studies approach. Original concepts such as "the fundamental sense of security","the reality of swaying I", "men's bioethics," and "the advent of an absent being" are introduced and discussed.

In this book I discussed the issues of brain death, reproductive technology, Japanese feminist approaches to bioethics, and Japanese debates on disability and bioethics, from the viewpoint of "life studies," which I have proposed for years. Readers will find a new way of seeing those bioethical problems in this book. Most materials cited in this book were published in the 1970s, but their discussions are still very new and stimulating. I have learned a lot from their discussions and experiences. Thier works are, I believe, a rich source of inspiration for future bioethics and "life studies."

In Chapter 2, I criticized the personhood argument in bioethics, and instead presented the concept, "the reality of swaying I," which Mitsu Tanaka, a Japanese feminist, used in her book as a basic concept of women's liberation movement at that time. In Chapter 6, after discussing selective abortion and new eugenics, I proposed the idea, "the fundamental sense of security," which should be a basic concept for thinking about our society in the age of biotechnology. And in Chapter 1, I discussed the idea of "the advent of an absent being" that appears on the body of a brain dead person surrounded by close family members. I also discussed men's sexuality and abortion, which has been one of the least discussed topics in the field of bioethics. I proposed "men's bioethics" as an important research area between bioethics and men's studies. The combination of "feminist approaches", "disability studies", and "life studies" will surely have profound influence on future bioethics.

You can read a brief summary of some of the chapters of this book in the papers, "Painless Civilization and Fundamental Sense of Security" (about "the fundamental sense of security"), "What do we Learn from Japanese Feminist Bioethics?" (about "the reality of swaying I," or "the sway of confused self") and "Reconsidering Brain Death: A Lesson from Japan's Fifteen Years of Experience." Concerning life studies see What is Life Studies page.

When translation is completed, this book will probably be the first full-scale introduction of Japanese feminist bioethics and disabled people bioethics in the 1970s into the English-speaking world. After the publication of this book, the research on Japanese feminist bioethics and disabled people's bioethics has greatly progressed. For example, Masae Kato published the book, Women's Rights? The Politics of Eugenic Abortion in Modern Japan in 2009 in English, which contains an abundant material on Japanese feminist voices on abortion in the 1970s.

I am now planning to enlarge the prespective of this book and rewrite it in the coming years.


Preface 
Encounter with Brain Death

Chapter 1 
Reconsidering Brain Death

  1. The Truth of Brain Death
  2. Genealogy of the Discourse of Brain Death
  3. Ontology of Brain Death

Chapter 2 
Life and the Otherness - The Reality of "Swaying I"

  1. View of Life Based on a Brain Reductionism
  2. Reality in the Personhood Argument
  3. Criticism of the Personhood Argument
  4. Reality in the Theory of the Otherness

Chapter 3 
Women's Lib and Bioethics

  1. Encounter with Women's Lib
  2. What was the Revision of Eugenic Protection Law?
  3. Revision Bill in 1972 and the Reaction of Women's Lib
  4. Three Arguments concerning Sex and Reproduction
  5. What did Japanese Feminist Bioethics in the 1970s ask?

Chapter 4 
Philosophy of Mitsu Tanaka - "Sway of Confused Self" and "Encounter"

  1. Liberation from a Toilet
  2. Devalued Women
  3. Self-affirmation at the Bottom of Despair
  4. Eros and Life
  5. "Sway of Confused Self" and "Encounter"
  6. Men's Perspective
  7. Encounter with Mitsu Tanaka
  8. Idea of Life in Mitsu Tanaka

Chapter 5 
"Abortion as Violence" and Men's Responsibility

  1. Abortion and the Right of Self-determination
  2. Homicide of Possibility
  3. Abortion as Violence
  4. Accepting Guilt
  5. Proposal of Men's Bioethics

Chapter 6 
Disabled People and "Inner Eugenic Thought"

  1. What is Eugenic Thought?
  2. "Blue Grass Group" and "Illusion of Becoming Healthy People"
  3. Why did Disabled People Have a Conflict with Feminists?
  4. Is It Possible to Overcome "Inner Eugenic Thought"?
  5. Preventive Social Welfare and Convivial Society
  6. What is the True Problem of Selective Abortion?
  7. Do Women Have the Right to Kill a Disabled Fetus?
  8. Battle against Eugenic Thought
  9. Some Points at Issue
  10. How to Think about a New Development of Eugenics
  11. "Inner Eugenic Thought" and the Possibility of Life Studies

Chapter 7  
The Possibility of Life Studies

  1. What is Life Studies?
  2. How to Live a Life without Regret?
  3. Inquiry into the World of Life
  4. Methodology of Life Studies

Book Reviews

Osamu Kanamori, University of Tokyo - "This is an important book. Various topics are discussed such as brain death, abortion, eugenic thought, and feminism as a discourse on life, however, there is a firm backbone at the basis of this book." (Yomiuri Shimbun Newspaper, Jan.20,2002)

Mariko Hasegawa, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies - "This is a book on bioethics, but the author does not seek to carry out a detailed analysis on current bioethics. Instead, after discussing those subjects, the author proposes a completely new research field, "life studies."" (Nikkei Shimbun Newspaper, Jan.6,2002)

Natsuko Yoshizawa, Rikkyo University - "I was astonished by the fact that bioethics is based on a poor view of humanity that regards only humans with consciousness and rationality as persons, and also astonished by the fact that Japanese women's lib activists and disabled people have accumulated rich and fruitful discourse on abortion since the 1970s." (Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, Jan.13,2002)

Book reviews also appeared in Kyoto Simbun Newspaper, Dokushojin Newspaper, Tosho Shimbun Newspaper, Ronza Magazine, etc.

Publication Data

Keiso Shobo, Tokyo, Nov.10, 2001, 494 pages, 3800 yen, written in Japanese.

Japanese website of this book