社會醫學科TSAI, FU-CHANGFU-CHANGTSAI蔡甫昌2009-01-192018-07-112009-01-192018-07-111999http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/99582The four principles approach to biomedical ethics (4PBE) has , since the 1970s, been increasingly developed as a universal bioethics method. Despite its wide acceptance and popularity, the 4PBE has received many challenges to its cross-cultural plausibility. This paper first specifies the principles and characteristics of ancient Chinese medical ethics (ACME ), then makes a comparison between ACME and the 4PBE with a view to testing out the 4PBE's cross-cultural plausibility when applied to one particular but very extensive and prominent cultural context. The result shows that the concepts of respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice are clearly identifiable in ACME. Yet, being influenced by certain socio-cultural factors, those applying the 4PBE in Chinese society may tend to adopt a "beneficence-oriented", rather than an "autonomy-oriented " approach, which, in general, is dissimilar to the practice of contemporary Western bioethics, where "autonomy often triumphs ".en-USChinese medical ethicsprinciplismautonomy