Includes bibliographical references and index.

Communitarian China versus the individualistic West: a popular myth and its roots -- The fallacy of dichotomizing cultures -- China as the radical other of the West, or a misconstruction of Foucault: sexual excess as a cause of disease in China and the United States -- Excursion: "false friends" in cross-cultural understanding, or a misjudgement of Needham: refuting the claim that the ancient Chinese discovered the circulation of the blood -- Taking China's internal plurality seriously -- The complexity of cultural differences: the forgotten Chinese tradition of medical truth-telling -- The "cultural differences" arguement and its misconceptions: the return of medical truth-telling in China -- Is informed consent not applicable in China?: further intellectual flaws of the "cultural differences" arguement -- Human rights as a Chinese value: a Chinese defence and critque of UNESCO's universal declaration on bioethics -- Women's rights in the Chinese context : toward a Chinese feminist bioethics -- After cheng (sincerity or truthfulness): the professional ethics of traditional Chinese medicine -- "Medicine as the heart of humanity" and the physician as a general -- Exploring the core of humanity: a Chinese-Western dialogue on personhood -- Beyond individualism and communitarianism: a yin-yang model on the ethics of health promotion (with Kirk L. Smith) -- Conclusions: toward the uncertain future -- Epilogue: thus spoke Hai Ruo (the god of the North Sea).

"Drawing from a wide range of primary historical and sociological sources, this book presents medical ethics in China from a Chinese-Western comparative perspective, and in doing so it provides a fascinating exploration of cultural differences and commonalities exhibited by China and the West in medicine and medical ethics. The book focuses on a number of key issues in medical ethics including: attitudes towards foetuses; disclosure of information by medical professionals; informed consent; professional medical ethics; and human rights. This careful examination not only provides insights into Chinese viewpoints, but also sheds light on the appropriate methods for comparative culture and ethical research. Through its analysis, Jing-Bao Nie seeks to put forward a theory of "transcultural bioethics", an ethical paradigm which upholds the primacy of morality whilst resisting cultural stereotypes, and appreciating the internal plurality, richness, dynamism and openness of medical ethics in any culture"--Provided by publisher.