Research on the Possibility of the Synthesis of the Branches of Applied Ethics through Theoretical and Empirical Approach

本研究的目的是寻找应用伦理学各分支（如生命伦理学、环境伦理学、信息伦理学）之间的联系，并试图将它们综合起来。为了做到这一点，伦理原则有关的这些分支，以及它们之间的基本结构关系进行了理论研究。同时，通过对道德意识和价值观的调查，我试图将抽象的理论思考建立在实验的基础上。沿着数据分析，本研究是第一次这样做。然而，在这样做时，需要对“反射平衡”方法进行修改。这种研究在未来将是伦理学的一个重要课题，因此，本文是这方面的先驱。不幸的是，由于这方面的研究成果很少，因此这一过程面临着试错，并没有取得预期的进展。尽管如此，在理论上也有一些发展，如关于生命伦理学与环境伦理学的关系，关于生命伦理学在信息时代的作用，关于生命和自决的风险问题，以及关于反思平衡方法论。至于实验方面，进行了4次调查，我发现了一些显着的结果。这些方法在一些论文中得到了应用，并在反思平衡法的检验中得到了应用，理论与实验取得了一定的联系。然而，将实验研究与理论研究相结合以获得协同效应的尝试并没有完全完成。这仍然是一个未来的话题。

The purpose of this research was to find linkage among branches of Applied Ethics (e.g. Bioethics, Environmental Ethics, Information Ethics), and attempt to synthesize them. In order to do so, ethical principles relevant to these branches, and the fundamental structural relationships between them were theoretically examined. Concurrently, through surveys on moral consciousness and values, I tried to ground experimentally the abstract theoretical considerations.There are only a few researches on examination of the relationships among branches of applied ethics. Along with the data analysis, this research is the first of the kind to do so. However, in so doing, modification on the method of "Reflective Equilibrium" is required. Such research is, in the future, would be a significant topic in ethics, and therefore, this paper pioneers in such undertaking.Unfortunately, since there were only a few previous works on this topic, the process was faced with trial and error and did not progress as it had been hoped. Nevertheless, there were several theoretical developments, such as on relationship between Bioethics and Environmental Ethics, on the role of Bioethics in information era, on the issue of life and risks of self-determination, and on reflective equilibrium methodology. As for the experimental side, 4 surveys were conducted and I have found some significant results. These were utilized in some papers and in examining reflective equilibrium methodology.Conjunction between theory and experiments was achieved somewhat. However, the attempt to incorporate experimental research into theoretical research in order to obtain synergic effect was not fully accomplished. This remains to be a future topic.