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KMID : 1011120080020030231
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Bioethics Policy Studies
2008 Volume.2 No. 3 p.231 ~ p.256
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Public Bioethics and The Role of Religions
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Yoo Kyoung-Dong
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Abstract
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The role of bioethics in line with the development of biotechnology can lead us to understand the current contested terrain between the moral teachings of religion and bioethics, and, most of all, their interaction in the realm of public policy.
Exploring the meaning of life from classical debates in Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism, I try to find the religious moral teaching as a source of moral wisdom for public policy. I think that the bioethics discourse make biotechnology more inclusive and open to moral contributions from religious moral traditions.
In thinking about how religious meaning of life is integrated within the discursive patterns of professional bioethics, it is vital to draw upon a distinction among such religions as Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism, because bioethics of instrumental rationality must be supplemented by matters of ultimate meaning and identity conveyed through religious discourse.
Christian understanding of life is based on the faith that humans are created by the image of God. This faith is central for coming to know the essence of humanity and Divine reality. Within such a context, biotechnology can only be appropriately appreciated within the framework of curing the soul and body.
According to the Buddha"s views of life, all human life is normatively significant because it is animated by the descended gandhabba, a spirit. Our life extends into the next life by their past moral behaviour, karma, the entire cycle of cause and effect. The importance of moral discipline is grounded in the natural laws of universe and life, and thus the acts of individuals are led by the laws of nature in a harmonious way.
Confucian bioethics provides us with a guidance that the respect to nature and humanity in the life of universe is vital. It emphasizes that man is regarded as a co-worker with nature. Confucianism regards harmony as an important value. In this regard, man moderates nature, taking care of nature in producing life. This kind of Confucian perspective of life provides a comprehensive picture and leads to more balanced and reasonable understanding of life.
In the development biotechnology, bioethics must play an important role to acknowledge special rights and moral value of man by displaying certain cognitive capacities advocated by religious thoughts delineated above. The criteria for achieving this goal may be sustained by the growing cooperation between biotechnology and religion.
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KEYWORD
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bioethics, Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Technocracy, soul, body, life
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