What is Social Well-being？ Our Concept

We do not believe that Well-being is something that can be achieved strictly at the individual level, irrespective to the Well-being of others. Rather, the term "Social Well-being" encompasses the belief that the Well-being of the community is connected to the Well-being of the individual. We aspire to design a society that enables Social Well-being by establishing a balance that values both the individual and their respective autonomy as well as the community as a whole.
Different people want to interact within the community in different ways, and everyone has their own diverse skills and preferences. Therefore, we believe it is important to design a society where people can live true to themselves while also respecting the values and choices of other people in the same community. To achieve this, we are carrying out research based on the "Self-as-We" concept.

When looking at Social Well-being, we focus on the conceptual idea of "Self-as-We" as proposed by Professor Deguchi, Professor of Philosophy at Kyoto University. "Self-as-We" embodies the characteristic of, "thinking not only about one's own happiness, but also the happiness of others." This perspective emphasizes the notion that it is impossible to do anything completely as an individual. Instead, what the individual achieves is dependent on the actions of multiple outside agents and components. When employing this concept, we should not not envision the "self" as a traditionally independent individual, but instead as an autonomous "Me" who is an integral part of the "We." For example, when an individual treats the team's success or failure as if it were their own, they are considered to be experiencing "Self-as-We".