• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.36
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• pp.281-302
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• 2014

Human beings have advanced to release instinctive desire. Among the human desires, sexual desire is classed as a basic desire with appetite and has been expressed in many ways from prehistoric times to present. Despite the social and ethical restriction, expression of sexual image has been evolved with change of time and medium's development. Thanks to inventing the photograph technique, Change of pornographic image has showed a dramatic aspect since early 20th century. The video which delivers message more directly than the picture boosted this change, and the animation has experimented the expression methods and techniques numerously exceeding the limit of realistic image which reappeared by the device. In this thesis, I want to discuss how human beings express sexual desire in animation based on society's sex culture, and analyzed Japanese pornographic animation as its obvious cases. Japanese pornographic animation should be interpreted as the result of culture and society system's history. Through Heian, Edo and early Meiji period, Japanese sex culture has been kept very openly and preposterously. Transformation, metamorphosis, pedophilia, tentacle sex and exposure of specific body parts that are frequently appear in Japanese animation can be interpreted by ancient Japanese open sex culture like Wakashu, polygamy, sleeping in mixed sex group and pederasty. These Japanese odd sex culture is hard to find elsewhere and settled as intrinsic sexual expression in Japanese animation. This situation was institutionally severed by European Modernization's force at the end of World War II in 20th century. However, it seems they have been keeping their influence in a proper form until now. In this study, I discussed that pornographic animation should be interpreted in a frame of cultural phenomenon by researching the series of procedure that ancient Japanese open sex culture has been changed by the system. Sexuality which is found in general Japanese animation was started from their history, and the dichotomous expression about women can be understood that it is bent by institutionally regulated sexual opinion. Japanese history and culture can be understood that it is transformed to the dichotomy that are simultaneously according freedom of eroticism to the pornographic animation, and the fear and irresistible temptation about the woman's body as the other.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.145
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• pp.91-117
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• 2018

This paper aims to clarify the similarities and differences between the Zhouyi and artificial intelligence. The divination of the Zhouyi is rooted in the oldest system of human knowledge, while artificial intelligence stands at the cutting edge of modern scientific revolution. At first sight, there does not appear to be any association that links the one to the another. However, they share the same ground as seen from a semiotic standpoint because both of them depend on the semiotic system as a means of obtaining knowledge. At least four aspects can be pointed out in terms of similarities. First, artificial intelligence and the Zhouyi use artificial language that consists of semiotic signs. Secondly, the principle that enables divination and artificial intelligence lies in imitation and representation. Thirdly, artificial intelligence and the Zhouyi carry out inferences based on mathematical algorithms that adopt the binary system. Fourth, artificial intelligence and the Zhouyi use analogy as a means of obtaining knowledge. However, those similarities do not guarantee that the Zhouyi could arrive at the scientific certainty. Nevertheless, it can give us important insight into the essence of our civilization. The Zhouyi uses intellect in order to get new information about the unknown world. However, it is hard to know what kind of intellect is involved in the process of divination. Likewise, we do not know the fundamental character of artificial intelligence. The intellect hidden in the unknown subject is a mystic and fearful existence to us. Just as the divination of the Zhouyi inspires the sense of reverence toward the supernatural subject, we could not but have fear in front of the invisible subject hidden in artificial intelligence. In the past, traditional philosophy acknowledged the existence of intellect only in conscious beings. Nonetheless, it becomes evident that human civilization ushers into a new epoch. As Ray Kurzweil mentioned, the moment of singularity comes when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. In my viewpoint, the term of singularity can be used for denoting the critical point in which the human species enters into the new phase of civilization. To borrow the term of Shao Yong(邵雍) in the Northern Song Dynasty, the past civilization belongs to the Earlier Heaven(先天), the future civilization belongs to the Later Heaven(後天). Once our civilization passes over the critical point, it is impossible to go back into the past. The opening of the Later Heaven foretold by the religious thinkers in the late period of Joseon Dynasty was a prophecy in its own age, but it is becoming a reality in the present.