“Respect for Life” Based on Plural Views of Life in Science Education

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how and why our classification among various forms of “life” has influence on our views of the “respect for life”.

Firstly, science textbooks from elementary schools to high schools were analyzed from various viewpoints. Consequently it was clarified what kinds of “life” are used and how they are killed as teaching materials in school science. Secondly, in light of the five viewpoints about “life” which were developed by Suzuki (1996) based on bioethics, environmental ethics and animal rights, the differences among the three typical forms of “life” (fish, worms and plants) were clarified in the viewpoint of “respect for life”.

In conclusion, we pay attention to the “respect for life” when (1) “life” is more similar to us, (2) “life” has the capacity for suffering as far as we understand it, and (3) “life” is able to be recognized individually to us. However, if “life” does not correspond to these 3 areas, we focus on the “respect for life” from the standpoint of protection of species in the case that “life” is collected from the field.