The family and harmonious medical decision making: Cherishing an appropriate confucian moral balance

Xiaoyang Chen, Ruiping Fan

    Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

    99 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This essay illustrates what the Chinese family-based and harmony-oriented model of medical decision making is like as well as how it differs from the modern Western individual-based and autonomy-oriented model in health care practice. The essay discloses the roots of the Chinese model in the Confucian account of the family and the Confucian view of harmony. By responding to a series of questions posed to the Chinese model by modern Western scholars in terms of the basic individualist concerns and values embedded in the modern Western model, we conclude that the Chinese people have justifiable reasons to continue to apply the Chinese model to their contemporary health care and medical practice. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)573-586
    JournalJournal of Medicine and Philosophy
    Volume35
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Oct 2010

    Research Keywords

    • Confucian bioethics
    • family
    • harmony
    • medical decision making

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