老いの研究 : 生命倫理の観点からの老い像を求めて

Under the influence of "aging population and low birthrate", the 21.5% of Japanese total population was the aged population last year (2007), of which the 11.6% was the first-half elderly people (65-75 years old) and the 9.9% was the second-half elderly people. That is, one per ten Japanese is over 75 years old. It is expected that one per 2.5 Japanese will become an aged person about the middle of the 21st century if the population changes at this rate. Against the coming of such true aged society, we must ask ourselves what we think about the aging and how we should live when growing old, namely, must have an image of old people. In the aspect of "age" and "ability", an image of aged people was "unified" and impersonal. They were deprived of the possibility of becoming the subject. The situation that many aged people were "sustained" in the society was regarded as "a problem". This viewpoint is not from old people themselves but from other people.

That a person supports oneself is a necessary but insufficient condition for leading a good life. From a viewpoint of bioethics, it is important to grow old in a better state as becoming conscious of one's own death. This is accompanied by the attitude of "if a person is to die sooner or later". Therefore an old person does not ask for one's own time independent of death, which is certainly a paradox. But a person cannot grow old in a better state without understanding this paradox. It is important not to make the moment of death keep as away as possible and prolong life, but to help a person to have something "worth living". Generally speaking, work and remuneration gives people the reason "worth living", which is particularly true of a "corporate man". He is willing to accept the situation of "alienation from labor" rather than dislikes it. Because to do so gives him something "worth living", though it conflicts with Karl Marx's opinion. Therefore old people aren't expected to be moral but to live as they wish, for they have the privilege of living by a pension. This style of living is the most attractive. In this meaning, aged culture in the Edo period —"Okina Culture"— will be a model to create an image of old people in presentday Japan.