A Study On Engelhardt’s Secular Bioethics Thought

Engelhardt believes that people have to live their own moral life on two levels:the first level of moral life is that,as acquaintances on morality,we use the principle of good deeds to guide specific moral values.However,the second level is that,as strangers on morality,we use the principle of procedural permission to achieve peaceful coexistence in a multicultural environment,that is,the authority of actions involving others can only be obtained from the permission of others.This is the core content of Engelhart’s secular bioethics thought,which is the "minimal ethics" of cooperating with those who hold different moral premises and resolving moral disputes.Engelhardt’s secular bioethics thought is derived from the multiple moral circumstances of contemporary bioethics.In the context of the medical technology revolution and the reform of the bioethics thought,new ethical thoughts are constantly emerging,and bioethics is also constantly showing diversification in the intertwining with complex issues of the times.The differences of moral culture between different moral subjects have gradually become prominent,and the coexistence of multiple thoughts has become a prominent feature of society.However,in the face of diversity and differences,the finiteness of rational argument cannot reveal the uniform standard of moral life for us,which means that the post-modern era of bioethics has arrived.Therefore,in view of the context of the reality of multiple morals,Engelhardt proposed a secular bioethics thought with the principle of permission as the core.The core of the principle of permission,on the one hand,is manifested in the priority of the principle of permission.Due to the finiteness of rationality and the irreconcilability of multiple contexts of reality,the specific content of beneficence is always related to the moral context,so the principle of beneficence can only be placed after the principle of permission in this sense.On the other hand,both the ownership principle and the political principle are the principle of permission in essence,which are the derivatives of the individual’s independent right of disposal.In Engelhardt’s secular bioethics thought,there are also solutions to specific medical problems,and detailed explanations of embryonic problems,the relationship between doctors and patients,and the health care system.Engelhardt’s secular bioethics thought defines the moral subjectivity of embryos from the perspective of the realization of permission ability.Secondly,Engelhardt proposes free and informed consent representing the rights of moral subjects from the perspective of the right of permission.Thirdly,he proposes the inevitability of a multi-level medical care system from the perspective of the moral subjects’ right to consent to the allocation of private and public resources.In addition,Engelhardt proposed a negative procedural minimal ethics without content based on the diversity of moral concepts and the complexity of medical practice.It is of practical significance for the study of contemporary Chinese bioethics to deeply reflect on Engelhardt’s secular bioethics thought and grasp its meaning and scope of application.To explore the theoretical foundation of Chinese bioethics and solve the practical problems of Chinese bioethics,it is necessary to base itself on the multi-ethical context and practice in China.