Abstract
The endorsement of the first part of Article 14 by Confucianism in that governments should promote health and social developments of its people would find resonance in Catholic social teachings which promotes the exercise of authority as a service. The centrality of the family in society is similarly emphasized by both religions. The right to health may imply a radical egalitarian approach rejected by Confucianism. This is echoed in the Catholic teaching of ordinary versus extraordinary means of therapy. The Catholic vision of equality in the dignity of human persons incorporates a need for service of love (caritas), which expresses itself as love of neighbor. Although Confucianism does not directly address the matter of human solidarity, the codification of obligations between different members of society maintains a structure for maintaining such solidarity. Finally an exploration of ordinary and proportionate means of therapy in the context of current scientific and technological advances may help to set an appropriate minimal decent standard of healthcare.
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Notes
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The passage recounted Confucius passing by a woman wailing in grief at a tomb. She had lost her husband’s father, husband, and son to man-eating tigers but refused to leave the locality because there was no oppressive government there. Hence Confucius taught his followers oppressive government was more terrible than tigers (Legge 1885).
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The Book of Rites (English version: “Sacred books of the East, volume 28, part 4: The Li Ki,” James Legge, 1885).
UNESCO. 2010. The Report of the International Bioethics of UNESCO on Social Responsibility and Health.
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Au-Yeung, P. (2018). Minimun Decency as Ordinary and Proportionate Healthcare Provision: A Christian Response to Ruiping Fan. In: Tham, J., Durante, C., García Gómez, A. (eds) Religious Perspectives on Social Responsibility in Health . Advancing Global Bioethics, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71849-1_10
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