Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/91832

KEYWORDS : Information law;libertarian paternalism;liberal communitarianism;surveillance capitalism;culture of surveillance

This article discusses the significance of Kunihiko Yoshida’s research on Japanese information law today. As a result, the following perspectives have been obtained: First, when considering the “infosphere” as a new social domain and examining its organizing principles, it is recognized that there is a positive significance in ensuring a balance between protecting people as needed and respecting their choices by taking into account their thoughts. Second, in order to guarantee basic human rights in the “infosphere”, the role of the state (and legal policy) is still expected to suppress excessively free economic activities in the market and to exercise multicultural consideration for all ideas regarding surveillance in the public sphere. Third, by analyzing social issues from a communitarian perspective that focuses on the way of “human flourishing”, it is still possible to reach a core perspective that strikes at the heart of the matter. To strike a balance between the relativization of anthropocentrism and the maintenance of its core part, Kunihiko Yoshida’s research undoubtedly plays an important role.