Current Research Topics
Current Research Topics
My research centers on (1) exploring Kant's virtue theory with a particular focus on the role of feelings in moral striving and (2) developing an ethical framework grounded in Kantian philosophy to address the relationships between humans and non-human entities, including animals and artificial agents such as AI and robots. Additionally, (3) I investigate the ethical challenges of creating a society where humans and technologies coexist harmoniously.
The Framework of a Virtuous Agent in Kantian Ethics
My research investigates Kant’s framework of a virtuous agent, emphasizing the roles of habits and feelings in moral striving. I examine how individuals fulfill their duties to themselves by developing the habitus of moral will—a capacity to appropriately regulate and refine emotions in the pursuit of virtue. Central to this inquiry is the positive affective states associated with moral self-determination, such as moral contentment with oneself (Selbstzufriedenheit), moral pleasure (moralischen Lust), and cheerfulness (Fertigkeit). I also explore the conceptual continuity between these positive feelings as rational feelings like respect (Achtung) and the sense of the sublime (das Erhabene), aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the moral life of a virtuous person in Kantian ethics.
I explore the moral consideration of animals and robots through Kant's concept of duties of virtue. According to Kant, while animals are not direct objects of moral duty, our treatment of them affects our moral emotions—such as sympathy—and thereby influences our duty of virtue toward ourselves. Thus, Kant argues that we have duties regarding our treatment of animals (indirect duties). This study engages with contemporary Kantian scholars like Christine Korsgaard, who argues that animals should be considered ends in themselves and, therefore, direct objects of moral duty, and Matthew Altman, who defends the concept of indirect duties. Additionally, I explore Nico Müller's work, which develops a new framework for moral consideration of animals as part of Kantian duties of virtue, examining the limits and implications of Kant’s text and its interpretations.
In the context of robot ethics, I analyze the potential extension of Kant’s indirect duty framework to artificial entities, as scholars such as Kate Darling and Mark Coeckelbergh proposed. While they argue that our indirect duties toward animals could apply to robots, I contend that this framework may be insufficient for human-robot relationships. By applying Kant’s category of duties to promote others' happiness, I argue that if relationships with robots can enhance the well-being of specific individuals, the duty to protect meaningful relationships with robots could be justified as a way to promote the happiness of those who benefit from these interactions. This discussion will also be useful in the context of animal ethics, particularly in considering the special relationship between humans and companion animals from an ethical perspective.
Relational Ethics for Human-Robot/AI Relationships
This line of research develops a radical relational approach to the ethics of human–robot/AI relationships, challenging the dominant paradigm that grounds moral consideration in intrinsic properties or status. Instead, I explore how ethical responsiveness emerges through dynamic and context-dependent relationships with artificial agents such as robots and AI.
Drawing on animistic perspectives and Japanese relational philosophy—especially Tetsurō Watsuji’s ethics of aidagara (間柄)—I propose a model in which ethical relations are not based on what the other is, but on how they relate to us within the environmental-social context. From this perspective, the artificial other becomes a “minded other” not by possessing a mind in a metaphysical or biological sense, but through the human act of infusing the other with mind (mind-infusing animism). This act transforms the ontological question into a relational process: it is within the lived interaction that ethical meaning arises.
My work articulates this as a descriptive rather than normative project: rather than prescribing what we ought to do based on abstract criteria, I seek to illuminate how ethical significance is continuously co-constituted through situated encounters. This approach opens a new horizon for understanding coexistence in a technologically evolving world, providing a framework for addressing the ethical implications of increasingly intimate and emotionally charged relationships between humans and non-human agents, such as social robots, AI companions, and digital personas. Ultimately, I aim to clarify how these relationships reshape our ethical practices and challenge us to rethink what it means to live ethically with others, whether human or artificial.