|
|
|
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES |
Confucian And Taoist Influences On Theimages Of Life Among Seniors In Taiwan
Dena HSIN,a Chen HSIN, a Darryl MACERb
aM.S.N., China Medical University, Taichung, TAIWANbPh.D., Eubios Ethics Institute, Japan and NEW ZEALAND
Rapid advances in medical technology such as genetic engineering and stem cell-based therapies will make it possible that in the near future, except for accidents, "natural" aging and the diseases of old age will be the main causes of human death in rich societies. When dealing with issues at the end of life medical sociology will need to focus more on person's life and death in senior years. Understanding the attitudes of older person's toward life and death is important for both performing end-of-life medical care and in making end-of-life policy.
To attempt to overcome the taboo on death conversation as well as to look at life and death as a whole, in-depth interviews were conducted with 112 randomly selected seniors (persons 60 years and older) in Taiwan on their images of life. Analysis of the key concepts they mentioned revealed significant influence of Confucian and Taoist philosophies. We suggest that Chinese people's attitudes to life and death can be largely understood through the values expressed in the underlying philosophies of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. According to those the value of life transcends from the quality of life to the quality of death. Almost no person had considered the usefulness of advance directives nor did many want to use them when it was suggested to them. Rather they generally prefer to leave such decisions either to the very last moment as nature decides it, or to their children whom they expect to look after them when they become frail and aged.Keywords: Taiwan, China, death, end of life, advance directive, ethics, life view, taoism, confucianism, decision-makingTurkiye Klinikleri J Med Ethics 2004, 12:211-225
|
|
|
|
|
