Graduate School of Letters Professor Nobuo Kurata of the book "Can I take off my mask?" has been published

Professor Nobuo Kurata of the Graduate School of Graduate School of Letters of our university wrote Chapter 4, "For Rational Decision-Making and Rational Autonomy: Scientific Knowledge and Ethics in the Coronavirus Pandemic," published on January 30 in the book "Can I Take Off My Mask?" (edited by Yoshiki Wakamatsu, Shinyamasha).

This book examines how Japan's crisis management system worked and what challenges it left in response to the unprecedented situation of the global pandemic of the new coronavirus infection from multiple angles. Researchers representing political science, law, economics, and ethics comment on the impact of the pandemic on society based on their expertise.

In the chapter in charge of Professor Kurata, he analyzes the relationship between scientific rationality and citizen autonomy. It discusses the role that governments, experts, and the media should play in a situation where "self-restraint" is required to act according to public health requirements based on scientific knowledge with uncertainty.

On the occasion of this publication, Professor Kurata said, "The pandemic has provided an opportunity to re-examine the justice and fairness that our society should uphold, as well as the ethics of individuals, and I hope that this paper will help deepen discussions to prepare for the next crisis."

Professor

Nobuo Kurata

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Specialized Field

Applied ethics, ethics, modern and contemporary Western philosophy

Research theme

Kantian ethics, philosophy of the meaning of life, modern normative ethics and meta-ethics, bioethics (birth, genes, treatment cessation, public health), environmental ethics (intergenerational ethics), science and technology ethics, history of modern Western philosophy