Am I a Politician, Too!?

Megumi Numao (Senior Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Liberal Arts)

I have a five-year-old daughter. I often argue with her about things that should and shouldn't be done at home, with exchanges like, "Put away your toys," "No," or "Don't jump on the sofa," "It's fine." If this is the situation even with my beloved daughter, who is adorable no matter what she does, it's enough to give you a headache just thinking about having to share a certain space with complete strangers of different upbringings and ways of thinking, and then having to decide how to live within that space.

The field I specialize in, political philosophy, is, to put it roughly, the work of tackling this headache-inducing task. It involves thinking about issues such as how people sharing the same space should live together, who (usually the state) gets to decide this, why, and to what extent. Let's look at a specific example. "Hate speech," which made it into the top ten buzzwords of last year, refers to making derogatory or discriminatory remarks in public against a specific group. Now, let's consider whether such speech should be tolerated in this country and whether the state should take some form of legal action. If you argue that it should be tolerated and no legal measures should be taken, some might say this would mean allowing those targeted by hate speech to be hurt, or that they would no longer be able to live in peace. On the other hand, if you argue that it should not be tolerated and legal measures should be taken, others might think this would restrict freedom of expression and make society feel stifling, or that it would hand the power of censorship over to the state. There are no easy answers to such problems.

You might be tempted to dismiss this as someone else's problem, thinking, "It must be tough for the politicians who tackle these difficult issues daily, or for the humanities students who aspire to be politicians," but this is relevant to all of you involved in STEM fields as well. This is because you, too, are people who will become "politicians" in the future. Looking at the world today, politicians with a background in science and engineering are by no means rare. Recent examples in Japan include former Prime Ministers Hatoyama and Kan, and abroad, German Chancellor Merkel and the late former British Prime Minister Thatcher. Furthermore, in this age of rapid progress in science and IT, the recommendations of experts in these fields are increasingly sought after in the political arena. For example, when deciding the direction of policies such as energy policy, the knowledge and insight of experts are essential. Moreover, as citizens and voters, you will inevitably be involved in politics. This is being a "politician" in a broad sense. As "politicians," I urge you to grapple with the problems of political philosophy as if they were your own. Hoping that "STEM politician," not just "Rikejo" (science woman), will win the buzzword of the year award, I'd like to cast my vote for all of you!