A REPORT FROM EAST-ASIA - SELF-DETERMINATION VS FAMILY-DETERMINATION - 2 INCOMMENSURABLE PRINCIPLES OF AUTONOMY

Most contemporary bioethicists believe that Western bioethical princip les, such as the principle of autonomy, are universally binding wherev er bioethics is found. According to these bioethicists, these principl es may be subject to culturally-conditioned further interpretations fo r their application in different nations or regions, but an 'abstract content' of each principle remains unchanged, which provides 'an objec tive basis for moral judgment and international law'. This essay inten ds to demonstrate that this is not the case. Taking the principle of a utonomy as an example, this essay argues that there is no such shared 'abstract content' between the Western bioethical principle of autonom y and the East Asian bioethical principle of autonomy. Other things be ing equal, the Western principle of autonomy demands self-determinatio n, assumes a subjective conception of the good and promotes the value of individual independence, whilst the East Asian principle of autonom y requires family-determination, presupposes an objective conception o f the good and upholds the value of harmonious dependence. They differ from each other in the most general sense and basic moral requirement .