Abstract

There are sets of principles of medical ethics. The ancient Hippocratic teachings of nonmalificense and benefifence lay the ground for bioethical deliberation. Georgetown’s four principles published in 1973 had set the tone for the modern discussion of medical ethics. A European commission of the biomed-II project for basic ethical principles in bioethics and biolaw during 1995-1998, under the leadership of Peter Kempt and Jacob Rendtorff, proposed autonomy, dignity, integrity and vulnerability as basic ethical principles in European bioethics. Asian scholar Prof. Michael Tai proposed principles of bioethics with Asian spirituality in 1999 at the second Asian Bioethics Seminar held at Nihon University in Japan [1]. Twenty years has passed since these Asian principles were suggested but the proposed Asian principles have not been widely discussed since it was not pubslihed in a well-known journal. As we look back to the last 20 years, we find that these Asian priciples are not only still valid, they should also be widely circulated for the bioethical world to ponder, as these principles are based on Asian cultural ethos effecting one fourth of the world population. Principles of bioethics must include cultural passion in order to reflect on the ways people live and act. The set of principles suggested by Porf. Tai are rooted in Asian culture, and include Compassion, Ahimsa, Respect, Righteousness and Dharma.