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Prof. Ikezawa graduated from The University of Tokyo
and earned Ph.D. in philosophy from The University of British Columbia. He
currently specializes in Chinese religion, ancestral worship, and death and
life studies and also writes many articles on Confucianism. In his lecture,
Prof. Ikezawa first introduced the basic concept of bioethics and exemplified
the bioethical stream in the United States, Germany and Japan for comparison
with that in China.
He
said, “A bioethical view first appeared in the
United States. Even before the appearance, medical ethics existed for
the medical
profession in the form of codes. The code expresses that patients
should follow
the best method of treatment specified by the medical professions. That
is to
say, medical ethics does not admit the self-determination of patients.”
Prof. Ikezawa explained that American bioethics gained academic
attention at the time of founding The National Commission in 1970s. It
upholds
four common principles: ‘respect for persons’ as the supreme principle
unlike the
medical ethics, then ‘beneficence’, ‘non-maleficence’ and ‘justice’.
Moreover, unlike American bioethics, German
bioethics stands on the logic that everything in the universe including human
existence is created by someone, which is beyond human understanding. The logic
is derived from the religious sense of Christianity that expresses ‘man and
woman cannot touch the realm of God’. In addition, Japanese bioethics emphasizes
the aspect of engagement and relationship, which shows another unique aspect. As
Prof. Ikezawa stressed, these cases tell that the manner of bioethics can
differ according to the culture and the traditional background.
In old China, medical ethics was established based on Confucian ethic and Buddhist views. The medical treatment was generally
justified by 仁 (ren, humanity or benevolence as a fundamental virtue) and
non-killing which a Confucian scholar/doctor should realize. Prof. Ikezawa discussed,
“Still today in China, doctors are not professionalized but controlled by the
government. It was Prof. Qiu Renzong
who first implanted concepts of American bioethics in China as a scientist. He
emphasizes a need to establish a certain system which considers value for ‘others
and society’. In comparison with American bioethics, Chinese bioethics is more
concerned about the reproduction. It mattered to the government how ethically it
should account for its reproductive policy. Therefore, Prof. Qiu upholds bioethics based on a sense that a
human is defined as contributive being to a society.” Prof. Ikezawa concluded that
全体 (quan ti, all) is a key concept of Chinese bioethics and its meaning
varies from people to a nation. He said, “The term may have been used in the Confucian
way, but more important is to understand in which context the term is used.”
Organizer: The Institute of Oriental Philosophy
Lecturer: Prof. Masaru Ikezawa (Professor, The University of Tokyo / Director, Center for Death and Life Studies and Practical Ethics)
Venue: TKP Ichigaya Conference
Center (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo)
Date: December 5, 2017
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