A social philosophical study on "functionalist geography of bodies"

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870001
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Human geography; Philosophy/Ethics
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Mitsuke Yousuke 北海道大学, 文学研究科, 専門研究員 (10584360)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 哲学 / 倫理学 / 社会学 / 障害学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to research functional relations between bodies and environments as socially constructed spaces for the issues of disability and aging societies. It has achieved two main results in the implementation period. Firstly, a new analytical concept called "body institution" was presented by investigating the enabling and disabling functions of social physical spaces. Secondly, as a normative study of the same theme, it elucidated the possibility to rethink Kant's theory of freedom from the perspective of the physically feasible freedom, to which Sen pays attention in his critique of Rawls's theory of justice. Both results were published. In addition, a study of relationship between modernist architecture and social construction of spaces has been implemented for further development of this study.

Free Research Field

哲学・倫理学