Comparative study of the idea of body in France and Japan

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870603
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: History of thought; Philosophy/Ethics
• Research Institution: Tokyo Keizai University
• Principal Investigator: AIZAWA Nobuyo 東京経済大学, 経営学部, 准教授 (80580860)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 避妊 / 生殖 / セクシュアリティ / 生命倫理

Outline of Final Research Achievements

There are big difference in the policy of the contraception between France and Japan. This research aimed to analyze what the cause of this difference from the philosophical point of view. We analyzed the discourse of French and Japanese feminists in the 1970s and observed that in France, they accepted the oral contraception as a tool to control the body while in Japan, they were not favorable toward the oral contraception because they appreciated the importance to leave their body “natural” and found the oral contraception as something artificial. So, in France the body is something to be controlled but in Japan it is not. Our conclusion is that these ideas about the body have much influenced the reproductive policy.

Free Research Field

哲学、思想史