2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Study on Casuistry and its application to modern problems
| Project/Area Number |
14510017
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Philosophy
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| Research Institution | Nagoya Institute of Technology (2003-2005)
Sasebo National College of Technology (2002) |
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Principal Investigator |
FUJIMOTO Tsumoru Nagoya Institute of Technology, Graduate School of Engineering, Associate Professor, 大学院・工学研究科, 助教授 (80332097)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2005
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| Keywords | casuistry / application / virtue ethics / conscience / Ethics for Engineers |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this study is to investigate casuistry, which is the method of reasoning about 'cases of conscience', and clarify some possibilities of its application to modern problems. Casuistry has a long history in Western Philosophy and is usually regarded as the method of preparing for solutions. Applied ethicists have recently pointed out the importance and the effectiveness of casuistry. In this study I have clarified that casuistry was not a mere problem-solving method, but was closely related to Virtue Ethics.
As a historical analysis, this study has clarified some casuistical aspects in the moral thinking of Thomas Aquinas (1225-74), who was an Italian philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition. Casuistical thinking was often expressed as 'cases of conscience' (casus conscientiae) during the Middle Ages, and his definition of 'conscience' is an application of knowledge to some practical matter. The background of casuistry from Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) to Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) has also been investigated and the modern casuistical techniques have been analyzed in this study.
Concerning the application of casuistry to modern problems, this study has avoided the subtle word "casuistry" as far as possible and used the technique in the field of academic education, especially Engineering Ethics. I have focused attention on dilemmas or conflicts of conscience in engineering.
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Research Products
(20 results)
