Spirituality/Medicine Interface Project

Eye on Religion: Confucianism, Autonomy and Patient Care

Authors: Daniel Fu-Chang Tsai, MD, PHD

Abstract

Chinese culture can be represented by two dominant philosophical traditions, Confucianism and Daoism. Both have focused their efforts in delineating Dao in a different sphere: Confucianists are concerned primarily with the proper way an individual should conduct his life in the social context, while Daoists are devoted to searching for the optimal way in which an individual can live a personal life in harmony with cosmological and nature spheres.1 The naturalistic thinking of Daoism greatly influenced the healing philosophy of Chinese medicine, while Confucianism has since the Han Dynasty (206BC to 220AD) become the dominant ideology in Chinese philosophy and has directed social, political, educational, and moral thoughts in Chinese and East Asian societies. Chinese medical ethics also was established on the foundation of Confucian ethics,2 and is important in the physician-patient relationship.

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