생명윤리에 대한 儒家思想의 현재성

Abstract

Confucian is not science, however Confucianism is being brought up every time we discuss the Bioethical issues. The reason behind this development is that it is easy to bring Confucius views in evaluating the issues raised by Life Science. Confucius would have valued the researcher’s free will and observed with great interest as long as life science follows the logic of humanity and be considerate with the filial piety and social relationships. On the other hand, Mencius’s Legalist views would have made him oppose the life science’s attempt in breaking the absolute ethical rules. Neo-Confucians who believed that reality could be controlled by ethical principles would have mainly focused on the Economic system of production, distribution, and consumption of Life Science’s achievement. In contrast, the scholars of Wang Yangming School who follows the idea of innate knowing would try to reform the economical ambition by revising the legislative law. However, in order to rationalize the economical ambition a coerced law can be more effective than trusting in the inner light of mankind.