TY - JOUR
T1 - Euthanasia and China
T2 - The traditional Chinese moral perspective and its social justice implications
AU - Chang, Peter Thiam Chai
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - This article begins by examining the Chinese relatively liberal stance on suicide. It explains the cultural forces that shaped traditional China’s interpretation of life, death and motifs that validate self-sacrifice. To elucidate the Chinese perspective, the article incorporates extensive comparison with Christian viewpoints. It then addresses “self-regarding” euthanasia cases where death is advanced as a measure to relieve personal affliction. Following this are descriptions of the “other regarding” category, where euthanasia is invoked as an altruistic act to benefit the collective. The article then argues that given China’s beleaguered public health system, there may be moral justification for some to waive their entitlement to life-prolonging treatment as a measure to curb excesses. It ends by contending that accelerating death, even when constricted by these exceptional instances, is not the favoured recourse. This is because the root causes of the current predicament stem from Beijing’s failure to administer equitable care. Instead of pursuing the legitimisation of euthanasia, the stronger ethical response is to reform China’s healthcare system with enhanced resources.
AB - This article begins by examining the Chinese relatively liberal stance on suicide. It explains the cultural forces that shaped traditional China’s interpretation of life, death and motifs that validate self-sacrifice. To elucidate the Chinese perspective, the article incorporates extensive comparison with Christian viewpoints. It then addresses “self-regarding” euthanasia cases where death is advanced as a measure to relieve personal affliction. Following this are descriptions of the “other regarding” category, where euthanasia is invoked as an altruistic act to benefit the collective. The article then argues that given China’s beleaguered public health system, there may be moral justification for some to waive their entitlement to life-prolonging treatment as a measure to curb excesses. It ends by contending that accelerating death, even when constricted by these exceptional instances, is not the favoured recourse. This is because the root causes of the current predicament stem from Beijing’s failure to administer equitable care. Instead of pursuing the legitimisation of euthanasia, the stronger ethical response is to reform China’s healthcare system with enhanced resources.
KW - Bioethics
KW - China
KW - Confucian model
KW - Euthanasia
KW - Healthcare systems
KW - Other regarding
KW - Self-regarding
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84973632293&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1353/asb.2015.0002
DO - 10.1353/asb.2015.0002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84973632293
SN - 1793-8759
VL - 7
SP - 43
EP - 61
JO - Asian Bioethics Review
JF - Asian Bioethics Review
IS - 1
ER -