以佛教探究生物複製倫理議題

Abstract

本文試圖以佛教義理為依據，探究生物複製涉及之倫理議題。生物複製意指 有意地造做出一份與某個體基因構造類似的副本。可應用在育種保育、寵物複製、 基因轉殖、醫療研究、輔助生殖等用途。眾應用中之「醫療研究型複製」、「生殖 型複製」分別引發了「胚胎破壞」及「複製人類」之相關疑慮，故形成許多爭議 及議題。於「胚胎破壞」問題中，學界主要以「道德地位」為入手處形成對「胚 胎地位」之討論；於「複製人類」中，則引發「生殖權」與「複製人處境」孰輕 孰重之爭論。 針對此兩方面之議題，致力於觀察生命世界與教導如何解脫的佛教，應可提 供嶄新的思考方式來面對生物複製議題。本文將以《雜阿含經》、《大寶積經》帶 出佛教「如實觀看」、「重視生命出路」之特點來檢視生物複製的倫理面向。並說 明使用「道德地位」、「權利」、「位格」等概念，無法適切地帶出佛教對於生物複 製之觀點。 「生物複製」除了「醫療研究型」、「生殖型複製」此兩類引發最多關注之應 用以外，亦廣泛地應用於人類之外的許多物種上。這使得從事倫理反思時，亦應 考量涉及其中的動物處境。佛教提倡眾生平等，重視有情生命處境，應可依此展 開相關應用涉及之倫理面向。

In this thesis, I will try to investigate the ethical issues regarding cloning in accordance with the doctrine of Buddhism. Cloning means that to produce a duplicate similar to a certain genetically identical individual intentionally, and can be applied to conservation breeding, pet cloning, gene transfer, therapeutic research and assisted reproduction etc. Among these practical applications, “therapeutic cloning” and “reproductive cloning” respectively raise the concern of “destruction of embryos” and “human cloning”, thereby many controversies and issues arise. These controversies and issues are surrounding “destruction of embryos” and “cloning human”, the former focuses on the “moral status” of embryos, and the latter on the evaluation between “procreative right” and “the situation of the clone”. Buddhism that endeavors to observe the world of sentient being and teach how to achieve liberation may solve these issues in a brand-new perspective based on the Saṃyuktāgama-Sūtra and Mahā-ratna-kūṭa-Sūtra which indicate “observing things as they really are” and “life process oriented approach”. In addition, I will argue that “moral status”, “right” and “personhood” would be the inappropriately used concepts to understand the Buddhist perspective to cloning. Cloning can not only be applied to therapeutic and reproductive uses which raise the most concern, but also to many non-human species. For this reason, we should take any animal involved cloning into consideration as well. From this aspect, Buddhism as a philosophy advocating that all sentient beings are equal and the life situation of sentient beings should be taken seriously may provide some indication to these ethical issues.