• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

An exploratory investigation of the foundations of environmental ethics: self and nature in Japanese philosophy

Research Project

Project/Area Number 20K00007
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Review Section Basic Section 01010:Philosophy and ethics-related
Research InstitutionAkita University (2022)
Kyoto University (2020-2021)

Principal Investigator

PASCA Roman  秋田大学, 教育文化学部, 准教授 (90758583)

Project Period (FY) 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Keywordsphilosophy / ethics / nature / environment / self / environmental ethics / deep ecology / Japanese philosophy
Outline of Research at the Start

The “key questions” are:
● How do we, as human beings, interact with nature? How does our self relate to the environment?
● What influences our relationships with other humans, with nonhuman animals, and with the environment?
● What are the philosophical tenets that inform our attitudes toward nature?

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The four main areas and directions in which this project made significant contributions are:
1) understanding that the value of nature is intrinsic, i.e. it is not the result of any kind of attribution or projection from the realm of the human. Nature is valuable by the mere fact of its existence; 2) as part of nature, human beings need to find the balance between their own place within the world, and the rest of the environment. Philosopher Ninomiya Sontoku describes this in terms of the constant interaction between “the way of humans” and “the way of heaven”; 3) to reshuffle our understanding of environmental ethics we need to start from the premise that the human self is inherently a self-with-everything; 4) in order to de-anthropocentralize environmental ethics, we need to listen to nature. The PI argues that the only possible way to do that is to listen to what nature tells us, and that one of the few ways in which it is actually possible to do that is the imaginary.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

The main purpose of the project was to analyze the fundamental tenets of environmental ethics and examine the contributions Japanese philosophical ideas and concepts can make toward a new understanding of our relationship with nature, and toward a much needed re-framing of environmental ethics.

Report

(4 results)
  • 2022 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2021 Research-status Report
  • 2020 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (18 results)

All 2023 2022 2021 2020 Other

All Int'l Joint Research (1 results) Journal Article (2 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 2 results,  Peer Reviewed: 2 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (9 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 6 results,  Invited: 4 results) Book (2 results) Remarks (3 results) Funded Workshop (1 results)

  • [Int'l Joint Research] Universidad El Bosque(コロンビア)

    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] portrait of the philosopher as a mature man: Ando Shoeki on nature, language, and himself2021

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Journal Title

      Vanishing subjectivity. Flower, shame, and direct cultivation in Asian philosophies

      Volume: 3 Pages: 117-138

    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] From the grain of rice to the single truth: The ontology of human existence in Ando Shoeki’s philosophy2020

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Journal Title

      Annals of “Dimitrie Cantemir” University - Linguistics, Literature and Methodology of Teaching

      Volume: XIX, 1 Pages: 68-85

    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] The Feminine and the Masculine in Ando Shoeki’s Philosophy2023

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      Recovering lost voices - Women and femininity in Japanese intellectual history, Kanda University of International Studies
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Reframing environmental ethics - hints from Japanese philosophy2023

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      Center for Global Research Initiatives, University of Hyogo
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] A child said “What is the grass?”: Nature as the Unity of Explanation2022

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman and Cuervo, Felipe
    • Organizer
      1st Akita Philosophy Seminar, Akita University
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Ando Shoeki on Morality and Humanity: Between Philosophy, Medicine and Biology in Jinrin no maki (人倫巻)2022

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      4th Asian Philosophical Texts Conference, University of Edinburgh
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] From "shizen" to "nature" - Japanese philosophy and environmental ethics2022

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      Japanese Studies Department, "Dimitrie Cantemir" University, Romania
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Revisiting Confucianism: Ando Shoeki’s Critique of the Five Relationships2022

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      9th Japanese Studies Conference, "Dimitrie Cantemir" University, Romania
    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Nature, Ahistoricity, and Environmental Ethics2022

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      6th Annual Conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Ando Shoeki’s Philosophy of Language2021

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      8th Annual Conference Japan: Pre-Modern, Modern, Contemporary
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Rethinking nature, rethinking humanity2020

    • Author(s)
      Pasca, Roman
    • Organizer
      Conversations with World Philosophies, organized by ALAFI and ENOJP
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Book] Vanishing subjectivity. Flower, shame, and direct cultivation in asian philosophies2021

    • Author(s)
      Takeshi Morisato, Roman Pasca
    • Total Pages
      182
    • Publisher
      Mimesis International
    • ISBN
      9788869773341
    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
  • [Book] Asian Philosophical Texts: Exploring Hidden Sources2020

    • Author(s)
      Takeshi Morisato, Roman Pasca
    • Total Pages
      170
    • Publisher
      Mimesis International
    • ISBN
      9788869772245
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
  • [Remarks] Akita Philosophy Seminar

    • URL

      http://www.romanpasca.com/akita-philosophy-seminar/

    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
  • [Remarks] Japanese studies conferences

    • URL

      https://ucdcjstudiesconf.wordpress.com/2022/08/08/conference-program/

    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report
  • [Remarks] Asian Philosophical texts book series

    • URL

      https://mimesisinternational.com/vanishing-subjectivity-flower-shame-and-direct-cultivation-in-asian-philosophies/

    • Related Report
      2021 Research-status Report
  • [Funded Workshop] 1st Akita Philosophy Seminar "What makes us human? / 人間の条件"2022

    • Related Report
      2022 Annual Research Report

URL: 

Published: 2020-04-28   Modified: 2024-01-30  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi