儒家生命倫理之基礎與方向——一個初步的分析

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.雖然越來越多研究者認識到儒家倫理資源對當代生命倫理研究的價值，但“儒家生命倫理學”仍然是一個頗具爭議的提法。本文試圖表明，儒家生命倫理學是一種以本土文化傳統為主體，從完整的生活世界出發，以糾正原則主義偏狹的理論努力。因此，一種構建儒家生命倫理學的理論努力成功與否，取決於它在多大程度上能夠在現實生活中恢復儒家的生活世界（如儒家共同體）以及與之相應的道德關懷。依據這一視角，本文嘗試為儒家生命倫理學建構提供一種合法性論證，並對儒家生命倫理學的方法、結構和方向作出初步的探討。Although increasingly more scholars are realizing the significance of Confucian intellectual and moral resources to bioethics in China, the phrase “Confucian bioethics” remains controversial today. What is Confucian ethics? Is there such a thing? Is it even possible? The debate on bioethics has gone global due to a rapid growth in biotechnology and life sciences that impact people all over the world, and there is heightened demand for understanding the many associated issues from various socio-cultural and philosophic-ethical perspectives. Yet some people argue that current bioethical considerations should be couched in terms of “universal principles” that render a specifically Chinese or Confucian bioethics irrelevant. What that position ignores is the importance of cultural context in determining how such principles should be understood and implemented. This essay argues there are elements in bioethics that require it clearly to be Chinese (and Confucian). It pointsout that Confucian ethics should be reconstructed and based on a life-world in which Confucianism is a lived tradition rather than a piece of art exhibited in a museum. From a contemporary perspective, the Confucian way of living is a new form of creation, meeting the challenge of modernity and postmodernity in terms of ethics in general and bioethics in particular. The essay also addresses issues concerning the methodology, structure, and direction needed for the creation of a Confucian bioethics.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 413 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.