Profile of Masahiro Morioka

In his office, Osaka, Japan, 2000

Profile - Curriculum Vitae - Chronological Table - Essay in Lifeline

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Profile

Masahiro Morioka is a philosopher, a writer, and a professor at Osaka Prefecture University. His works include:

11 books on philosophy and ethics of life >> See List of books

More than 100 papers and essays >> See some of them in English

Columns and book reviews in major Japanese Newspapers

Appearances on Educational TV and Radio

Associate editor of Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics

Former member of the panel of referees for Global Bioethics

Director of Life Studies Homepage, one of the most visited academic websites in Japan

Chief Editor of Journal of Contemporary Civilization Studies (Gendai Bunmeigaku Kenkyu), an academic web-journal in Japan.

Morioka coined the words "life studies" in 1988 in his first book. This was because of his frustration against "bioethics" and "environmental ethics" that were prevalent in the USA. Morioka thought that the most important thing was to seek the meaning of life and death in contemporary society where everyone seemed to be looking for transient pleasure and superficial freedom. Morioka began to believe that a fundamental reconsideration of life and scientific technology together with the criticism of contemporary civilization should be needed. (See What is life studies)

Morioka was born in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, in 1958. Morioka graduated from the University of Tokyo. His specialization was philosophical analysis, especially the later Wittgenstein's philosophy. Morioka was one of the earliest specialists on bioethics in Japan. Morioka worked for International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, as a research associate for eight years. During this period, Morioka wrote several books. Brain Dead Person (1989) has been probably the most influential book in Japanese bioethics. Consciousness Communication (1993), a study of psychological aspects of computer-mediated-communications, won Telecom Social Science Award. Reconsidering the View of Life (1994) was welcomed as an introductory textbook on applied ethics for high school and college students. Morioka wrote How to Live in a Post-religious Age (1996) as a reaction against the 1995 Sarin nerve gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subways. The message of that book was widely supported by young people who were seeking the meaning of life and death in this chaotic society. (See List of books). Morioka stayed at Wesleyan University, Conncticut, USA, as a visiting scholar in 1991.

Morioka moved to Osaka Prefecture University as a professor of contemporary thought and ethics. Morioka teaches undergraduate and graduate students in the Life Studies Program. Morioka published the book, Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics (2001). In this book Morioka explored the basic ideas of life studies, and applied them to bioethical issues. This book was reviewed in many major newspapers and magazines. Morioka published another controversial book on the fate of contemporary civilization, Painless Civilization: A Philosophical Critique of Desire (2003). Probably this is Morioka's most important book so far. Two years later, Morioka published The Insensitive Man (2005), a philosophical analysis of male sexuality, which was also a sensational book. Morioka is considered by many to be one of the most important thinkers of today in the field of philosophy and sociology, together with Masachi Osawa (Kyoto University), Shinya Tateiwa (Ritsumeikan University), Shinji Miyadai (Metropolitan University), and Hitoshi Nagai (Chiba University).

Readers might find it interesting to see his Blog.

A brief outline of Morioka's philosophy, see Painless Civilization and Fundamental Sense of Security.

About the development of Morioka's philosophy, see The Structure of the Inner Life of a Philosopher: The Multi-Layered Aspects of Speech.

Note: There is a person with the same name, Masahiro Morioka (a former Member of Parliament, Liberal Democratic Party). The Director of this site does not have any special relationship with him.

Curriculum Vitae

Masahiro Morioka

First Name: Masahiro
Last Name: Morioka
Year of Birth: 1958
Place of Birth: Kochi Prefecture, Japan
Citizenship/Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, English
Marital Status: Single
Sex: Male
Address: Osaka City, Japan

Education:
1988 Ph.D. candidate at Graduate School of Humanities, the University of Tokyo
1985 M.A. (Ethics) at Graduate School of Humanities, the University of Tokyo
1983 B.A. (Ethics) the University of Tokyo

Current Positions:
Professor of philosophy and ethics at College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan (2005-)

Past Positions:
1998-2004 Professor of philosophy and ethics at College of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, Japan
2001-2003 Visiting Professor at Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo
1997-1998 Associate Professor at Osaka Prefecture University
1988-1997 Research Associate at International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Japan
1991 Visiting Scholar at Wesleyan University, the USA
1988 Research Associate at the University of Tokyo

Award:
1994 Telecom Social Science Award (for the book, Consciousness Communication)

Major Publications (Listed below are books only. Full publication is here (in Japanese) English papers are here.)
2005 The Insensitive Man: A Philosophical Essay on Male Sexuality (Chikuma Shobo, in Japanese)
2003 Painless Civilization: A Philosophical Critique of Desire (Transview Publications, in Japanese)
2001 Life Studies Approaches to Bioethics: A New Perspective on Brain Death, Feminism, and Disability (Keiso Shobo, in Japanese)
2001 Life Torn Apart (kinokopress.com, in Japanese)
1997 An Intellectual Method of Facing Oneself (PHP Publications, in Japanese)
1996 How to Live in a Post-religious Age (Hozokan, in Japanese)
1994 Reconsidering the View of Life (Chikuma Shobo, in Japanese)
1993 Consciousness Communication  (Chikuma Shobo, in Japanese)
1989 Brain Dead Person: From the viewpoint of life studies (Tokyo Shoseki, in Japanese)
1988 An Invitation to the Study of Life (Keiso Shobo, in Japanese)

Essay in Lifeline

Morioka's short profile (questions and answers) published in the column "lifeline" in the medical journal, Lancet, vol.356,no.9239, Oct.21,2000.

Lifeline
Masahiro Morioka
Lancet, Issue: Oct. 21, 2000

Masahiro Morioka studied medical ethics at the University of Tokyo. He is absorbed in "life studies", a transdisciplinary research field concerning life, death, and nature. He is a professor of philosophy at Osaka Prefecture University, and the director of the International Network for Life Studies.

Who was your most influential teacher, and why?
The Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, because he taught me the essence of philosophy.

What is your greatest regret?
I was born and brought up as a male. This is my greatest regret.

What complementary/alternative therapies have you tried? Did they work?
Ki-ko, traditional Chinese martial arts. It worked to an extent.

Do you believe there is an afterlife?
If there is afterlife, it must be life after this life, hence it is not real afterlife.

What are you currently reading?
Papers on brain death.

What books are you not reading?
"One hundred ways to save this planet".

Do you believe in capital punishment?
Never.

What do you think is the most exciting field of science at the moment?
Brain sciences.

Do you apply subjective moral judgments in your work?
Yes, of course.

What do you think is the greatest political danger to the medical profession?
Capitalism and its temptation to make money out of medical inventions.

If you had not entered your current profession, what would you have liked to do?
I wanted to be a sculptor and create very experimental three-dimensional works.

Where were you in your sibling order, and what did you gain or lose as a result?
The eldest brother. I gained mother's love and lost all my adolescence.

Do you believe in monogamy?
Yes I believe in it, but the truth is sometimes a heavy burden.

COPYRIGHT 2000 The Lancet Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

(c) 1999- International Network for Life Studies >> Back to Home