Up until the Second World War, the idea of reincarnation was a quite prevalent concept in Japan, and it was widely believed that the dead would return to the same family they belonged to. Correspondingly, there appear to have been many cases of the reincarnation type （CORTs） within the same family. Such same family CORTs are by no means obsolete in contemporary Japan, and in this article I would like to report a case in which a dead daughter, who passed away in 2004 at the age of 6, appears to have been reborn in 2009 as her brother in the same family. At the time of the investigation the child was 5 years old. The case involves apparent after death communication （ADC） and announcing dreams. Although the child in this case did not claim that he was his sister reborn, he made some striking remarks suggesting that he did have memories as his departed sister. He also played in such a conspicuous way as to remind her mother of the way her daughter played while she was alive. The present case would be analyzed in terms of the Strength-of-Case Scale （SOCS）, and some of its notable characteristics would be compared with those of other cases investigated at the University of Virginia and incorporated as part of the CORT database being developed there.

View full abstract

It is widely recognized that biomedical ethics was based on liberal individualism, which originated in Mill’s arguments in On Liberty (1859) and reflected ethics for strong people. Since then, importance of independence and self-determination has been emphasized in society. However, in recent years there has been criticism to this stress on independence seen from the viewpoint of human relationship. Critics consider the weak side of human beings. Daniel Callahan, known for his communitarian positions, emphasizes the importance of interdependence, and argues for the necessity of lifelong education to understand moments of dependence on others. Martha C. Nussbaum, an Aristotelian, posits that not only independence but also vulnerability is an excellent principle of ethics. Max Scheler points out a way of release, which rests on the basis of modest attitudes and recalls better human relationships. Edith Stein asserts that relationships with others develop the potential talent in human beings. I think that these insights of these two German phenomenology philosophers are essential in order to deal with the problems of providing support to suffering.

View full abstract

How does a dancer think through the body in dance practice? This paper aims to give answer to this question through consideration from the reconstitution of body images in his/her practice. This paper specifically uses phenomenology as an analytical frame work. Before his/her practice, the dancer acquires the knowledge of anatomy described from the third-person perspective. When the dancer performs the dance technique, this knowledge transforms into the images of moving his/her own body. Through the movement, the dancer perceptually understands the process of unification of images as a figure in the potential layer and movements on the actual layer. The dancer reflects on his/her own body in movement. Through this both perceptional and subjective reflection in his/her movement, the dancer finds out another aspect of the body images including representation of attitude and beliefs pertaining to his/her own body. Through this bodily reflection, the dancer superposes his intention and impulse for movement on his/her body images. Reconstituting the body images through the reflection of his/her own body in movement, the dancer integrates his/her whole body including aspects of intention and impulse for movement.

View full abstract