A Plurality Atlas

Who is Sunji Lee?

An associate professor in the Faculty of Sociology at Hosei University in Japan, and author of *テクノ専制とコモンへの道* (2025), a paperback that explains the book *Plurality* for general readers. Lee has held conversations with Weyl and Tang, and written many introductions to related books and essays.

The book Plurality is thick and its content is hard. For people in Japan who want to read it, one researcher has written a short paperback to serve as a way in.

In short

Sunji Lee (李舜志) is a researcher born in Kobe in 1990. Lee earned a doctorate in education at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Education and is an associate professor in the Faculty of Sociology at Hosei University [1].

In June 2025 Lee published the Shueisha Shinsho paperback テクノ専制とコモンへの道 民主主義の未来をひらく多元技術PLURALITYとは? (The road from techno-despotism to the commons: what is PLURALITY, the plural technology that opens up the future of democracy?) [2]. Lee is one of the people introducing Plurality to Japan. → Plurality in Japan

Connection to Plurality

Why Lee wrote an introduction. Lee says that at the end of 2023, while writing an earlier book on the philosophy of Bernard Stiegler, Lee learned of the writing process of the English edition, which was public on the web, and followed it. Lee felt something new in its linking of technology to the richness of society without discarding technology, but also found its content and expression a little difficult, and felt that as a co-written book it was hard to see a single story in it. So, in Lee's account, the aim was to write a book that explains it clearly along a single thread so that it reaches ordinary people [3].

What the paperback covers. It explains the ideas with examples such as Polis (Pol.is), a tool that gathers opinions and makes agreement visible, and the broad listening that Takahiro Anno's team tried in the 2024 election for Governor of Tokyo [3].

Conversations with the authors. On Shueisha Shinsho Plus, Lee held a conversation with Glen Weyl (in two parts, published May 30 and 31, 2025) [4][5] and one with Audrey Tang (published June 6, 2025) [6].

Introducing the intellectual background. In an interview with Diamond Online, Lee explained how Plurality relates to John Dewey, Kojin Karatani and Daron Acemoglu [7]. Lee also said that because the book is influenced by thinkers such as Dewey and Simmel, its philosophical side needs to be explored more deeply [8].

Pol.is in university classes. In the same interview, Lee described trying out Pol.is in university classes. The idea is to train what Tang calls "civic muscle" (the strength that builds up trust) [8].

Translations and introductions. On note, Lee published a Japanese translation of Tang's talk on the 6-Pack of Care manifesto, "ケアの6パック：マニフェスト" [9]. → 6-Pack of Care. Lee has also written a review of Danielle Allen's Justice by Means of Democracy [10], an introduction to the idea of prosocial media by Tang, Weyl and others [11], a summary of the debate between Weyl and the thinker Curtis Yarvin [12], and a reading list for understanding Plurality in depth [13].

How the paperback was received. The paperback was reviewed by Daisaburo Hashizume (first published in the Mainichi Shimbun, September 2025) [14].

Main ideas

Techno-despotism and the commons. This is the contrast in the paperback's title. The introduction to a conversation on Shueisha Shinsho Plus sets out the concern that the world is splitting into those who rule and those who are ruled, and that the weapons for this are the internet and AI. Plurality is presented as a path other than the scenario of mass unemployment caused by AI plus a basic income [15].

Putting a steering wheel on technology. In an essay on note, Lee thinks through, and adds to, Tang's argument that we should neither accelerate nor slow the evolution of technology, but put a steering wheel on it. Lee cautions, however, that it is not digital democracy itself that holds the wheel: it is each citizen who holds it, and digital democracy gives citizens the power to do so [16].

A critique of longtermism. Lee has written on the problems of longtermism and effective altruism, which lie behind debates about AGI (artificial general intelligence) and the Singularity [17][18]. → The AI futures debate

Further reading

All of the following are in Japanese.

  1. Diamond Online interview with Sunji Lee, part 1 (in Japanese, interview, 2025-08-14) — https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370383 (continued at https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370388 and https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370401)
  2. Bibliographic record of テクノ専制とコモンへの道 (in Japanese, book) — https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I034122541
  3. Weyl × Lee conversation, part 1 (in Japanese, conversation, 2025-05-30) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/e_lee/30554
  4. Tang × Lee conversation (in Japanese, conversation, 2025-06-06) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/audrey_lee/30659
  5. Sunji Lee, "テクノロジーにハンドルをつける：多元的未来論序章" (Putting a steering wheel on technology: a prelude to plural futures) (in Japanese, essay, 2025-06-14) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/n3f0a9bdbee1a
  6. Sunji Lee, "Pluralityを深く広く理解するためのブックリスト" (A reading list for understanding Plurality deeply and broadly) (in Japanese, reading list) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/n4f612e10d5e5

Sources

  1. Shueisha Shinsho Plus, "日本の政治に絶望している人たちへ" (To those who despair of Japanese politics), author profile at the end (2025-05-30, in Japanese) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/e_lee/30554
  2. National Diet Library Search, テクノ専制とコモンへの道 — https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I034122541
  3. Diamond Online, interview with Sunji Lee, part 1 (2025-08-14, in Japanese) — https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370383
  4. Shueisha Shinsho Plus, Weyl × Lee, part 1 (2025-05-30, in Japanese) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/e_lee/30554
  5. Shueisha Shinsho Plus, Weyl × Lee, part 2 (2025-05-31, in Japanese) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/e_lee/30559
  6. Shueisha Shinsho Plus, Tang × Lee (2025-06-06, in Japanese) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/audrey_lee/30659
  7. Diamond Online, interview with Sunji Lee, part 2 (2025-08-15, in Japanese) — https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370388
  8. Diamond Online, interview with Sunji Lee, part 3 (2025-08-16, in Japanese) — https://diamond.jp/articles/-/370401
  9. Audrey Tang, "ケアの6パック：マニフェスト", Japanese translation (2025-09-13) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/nc2fe44693ece
  10. Review of Danielle Allen, Justice by Means of Democracy (2025-06-28, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/n36443feaf466
  11. "SNSの真の問題とは？ プロソーシャルなメディアエコシステム構築のために" (What is the real problem with social media? Toward building a prosocial media ecosystem) (2025-07-06, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/nd766c8101e79
  12. "アメリカはCEO独裁によって統治されるべきか？――カーティス・ヤーヴィンVSグレン・ワイル" (Should America be governed by a CEO dictatorship? Curtis Yarvin vs Glen Weyl), summary and review (2025-09-05, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/ne5e7100346b9
  13. "Pluralityを深く広く理解するためのブックリスト" (2025-05-24, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/n4f612e10d5e5
  14. Review by Daisaburo Hashizume (ALL REVIEWS; first published in the Mainichi Shimbun, 2025-09-20, in Japanese) — https://allreviews.jp/review/7512
  15. Shueisha Shinsho Plus, Yuko Tanaka × Lee (2025-06-16, in Japanese) — https://shinsho-plus.shueisha.co.jp/interview/tanaka_lee/30694
  16. "テクノロジーにハンドルをつける：多元的未来論序章" (2025-06-14, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/n3f0a9bdbee1a
  17. "テクノロジーと金儲けで世界は救えるか？：長期主義／効果的利他主義の問題点" (Can technology and money-making save the world? The problems of longtermism and effective altruism) (2025-05-31, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/na0f4957c5064
  18. "AGIについて語るときのいくつかの注意点" (Some cautions when talking about AGI) (2025-06-07, in Japanese) — https://note.com/chic_borage2648/n/nf3f6003df99e
Related: What is the Plurality movement in Japan? ・ What is ⿻ Plurality? ・ Who is Audrey Tang? ・ Who is E. Glen Weyl? ・ Who is Kojin Karatani? ・ What is Polis? ・ What is the 6-Pack of Care? ・ What is prosocial media? ・ What are emergent publics? ・ Who is Danielle Allen?

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