再議台灣長期照護政策的性別正義問題與出路

A Confucian Approach to the Long-Term Care Policy Issue in Taiwan

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

面對快速高齡化的社會實況，台灣政府於2007年提出“長期照顧十年計劃”作為長期照護政策的依據。但是，該計劃卻未能具體而微地列明關乎性別正義的政策內容，例如：對於照護勞務的提供與分配尚未建立一套合於“性別主流化”要求的體制與實踐。

就台灣長期照護政策與其實踐未能彰顯性別正義的現況，本文首先提出台灣社會從政府到家庭以至個體的性別觀點，尚未具備性別正義之充分實踐的因素。本文再進而探討道德與政治之間，為何必須以及應該如何考量性別正義，是合理且可證成的。女性主義者常批判長期照護是對女性的一種不公義的制度。女性主義者中的關懷倫理學家則嘗試以關懷的角度去說明女性之互相倚待性，並以關懷去疏解此中的性別歧視。但關懷倫理學是不能證立家庭在長期照護中的特殊角色和義務。

對照於“性別主流化”的時代要求，本文認為孔孟的仁義思想實能就道德規範根源回應政治原則的合理性問題。儒家以家庭為倫理實踐的起點，家庭成員對長期照護有一自然的承擔義務而不必是性別歧視的。為確立本文觀點，進一步論述儒家“各盡其性分”的原則在道德與政治的面向之間，如何能於政策規範之內涵與實踐上回應政府、家庭以及個體合於性別正義的要求，並且有所殊勝於主張關懷倫理的女性主義之論說。

Facing the ever increasing pace of ageing in society, the Taiwanese government proposed a “Ten-year Plan for Long-term Care” in 2007 as the basis of its long-term care policy. However, the plan clearly does not pay attention to the issue of gender justice in Taiwanese society. For example, the supply and distribution of care-giving labor as determined in the plan does not establish a system and practice that would conform to mainstream Taiwanese thought on gender issues. Feminists are keen to criticize that the long-term care of the elderly has been a burden and an indication of gender injustice in treating women. Care ethicists try to indicate the interdependence of family members and propose a fair share of the care burden between the sexes. However, they fail to offer an adequate justification for the share of the burden among family members or a proper account of the special role of the family in long-term care.

In this essay I first explore the main factors that explain why the long-term care policy and practice are unable to achieve gender justice from the perspectives of the government, the family and the individual. I then argue that it is morally and politically reasonable to develop policy concerning gender justice. From the Confucian viewpoint, the family is the core of human life and the starting point of individual moral practice and family flourishing. The family is the basic unit that could offer a suitable ground for a proper public policy to enhance the quality of long-term care without gender discrimination. I argue that Confucius and Mencius’ ideas of Jen (benevolence) and Yi (righteousness) provide the moral foundation for a proper response to the demand for gender justice in government policy. To illustrate this point, I elaborate how the Confucian principle of the “utmost fulfillment of each being’s mandate” could be applied to the policy and action of the government, the family and individuals to accomplish gender justice. I conclude that this Confucian principle is better than the feminist care ethic in directing the formulation of a proper long-term care policy.

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