基於儒家家庭本位思想的知情同意原則的思考

The Principle of Informed Consent: A View Based on Confucian Familism

Abstract

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

在具有家庭主義特徵的中國社會文化語境下，儒家家庭本位思想對病人知情同意權的影響是客觀實在。以自由主義和個人主義為理論基礎的個人自主知情同意原則要想在中國本土的醫療實踐中發揮應有作用，突顯家庭在知情同意過程中的主導地位是重要前提。在中國的醫療實踐中，知情同意的模式必須融入中國儒家家庭本位思想，才能更好地發揮其作用。

Opinion polls released recently show that the majority of people in China today think that informed consent in medical practice is necessary, with more than half favoring family decision making over individual, autonomous patient decision making. Based on these opinion polls, this essay argues that the liberalism and liberal individualism that emphasize individual autonomy do not square with the Confucian tradition.

The essay submits that the “family decision” model is designed to embody Confucian family ethics and maximize the benefit of family involvement in medical decision making. The family model includes both the patient and his or her close family members in the decision making process. The Confucian ethics of humanness (ren) – the highest moral virtue – and filial piety (xiao) – the foundation of all moral virtue – support family as the most appropriate authority for medical decisions. Further, the essay explores how the family as a unit is better positioned to work with the physician at critical moments to protect the interests of the patient. This means that the family, not the patient, is in authority, and that in some cases, it is acceptable for family members to hide “medical information” from the patient with the cooperation of the physician. The essay concludes that the family is, and should be treated as, a significant moral participant in medical decision making.

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