Earticle

The advanced modern medical technology could save the people from the death however it also could be the case of Intervention and interference of death which could be regarded as a meaningless extension of life. In this respect the requirement of dignity death has been stronger and the concept of dignity death is the part of the ‘quality of life’ concept has been extended. The first ‘Withdrawal of Meaningless Life-Sustaining’ has been recorded at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Medical College in this country. Kim (77 years old) who was at vegetative state took off the respirator after a more than one year time. Supreme court made decision “When it is obvious that she will be die in a short period, continuing life-sustaining treatment is the against of the human dignity so it should be allowed stop treatment upon patient’s wishes.” Supreme court ruled to take off the respirator so the first ‘discontinue treatment’ had been recorded. In the light of this concern we would like to examine ‘end of life care decision’ in view of ethical contemplation. Firstly, the most concrete reason for discontinue-treatment would be ‘protection of human dignity’. Especially when the platform of human dignity basis on human being’s sanctity, and the elements of dignity is self-consciousness, rationality. In this sense discontinue-treatment would be more convincing. The concept of human dignity has related with self determination. According to Kantian ethics, The reason for human and all the rational beings has a dignity is basis on self determination. And human dignity is directly related with the freedom of select action which is recognized by the sound human reason. Secondly, In the medical practice determine patients self determination should be regarded as the most important thing. Every human being who are living in the society the freedom is guaranteed by the law, has a freedom and right to accept the doctor’s advice or not and also has a right to refuse the treatment at any time (except the emergency case) as long as the human has a consciousness. As a principle of biomedical ethics ‘self determination’ means that to itself to make decisions relating to the body in their own right. In the medical field the patient's self determination could appear in the form of 'consent'. When the patient’s decision has directly related with patient’s life just one time consent is not enough it requires at least 2 or 3 times consent and the consent should be explicit consent. Final decision should be done by written consent. In order to ensure objectivity, written consent requires two witness. The other method of self determination could be living will and advanced directives. Another important criterion in the medical field is opinions of medical experts. Stop life-support treatment decision should be made basis on medical judgments. If the patients is in the state of permanent vegetative or in case of too low to be of benefit from therapeutic medical treatment so that medical goals can not be achieved. In this case, the goal of treatment should be changed to comfort and care. Thirdly, regarding the limit of application for stop life-support treatment, there are ordinary means and extraordinary means. The ordinary means which imply nutrition and hydration supply, kind of general treatment should not be stopped unless patients serious, rational requirement. Looking at the ethical implications of stop life-support treatment, the concern should be termination of life which is done arbitrary and randomly. An estimable virtue of human life is not the part of the human being as a living cell by chance but he entire personality. Biological life is not a sufficient condition for entire personal life. In that sense death with dignity has a persuasive power. Before the legalization of death of dignity, the health care system improvement related with life-support treatment should be done first. So that they would not give up a life of their own because of the medical costs. Doctor’s duty to explain and guarantee of treatment options for patients is required. Prior research on the various ways to support the terminal patient and their family should be done properly as well. We have to think about the treatment focusing on pain relief rather than meaningless life-support treatment for the patients with a life expectancy less than six months. It is about time to discuss about social support for the hospice care for the death with dignity.

Today, our society has a real space and virtual space, in addition, social space that connected by a social network is formed. Social space is changing the way of communication from a one-way communication to interactive communication. As a result, the social human who actively implement in space of everyday life and a social communication that participation and communication, sharing of behavior are formed. In general, the cultural phenomenon of community society has a sustainability and integrity, and civil society has a change and separate. In contrast, social community has a reciprocity and relationship. This character of social community has a potentiality that has to harmonize in the between sustainability and integrity of the community and change and separate of the civil society. Thus, the cultural ethics of social community approach is needed. Ethical and cultural approach is the ethical approach that balanced and harmonious ethical ideal ought and actual cultural values to ensure the legitimacy of the decisions and actions Ethical and cultural approach will to build a correct and good system thinking and acting Ethical and cultural approach in social community is as follows. First, to a balanced blend of judgment, the judgment on the basis of a mutually critical thinking and caring thinking, and the rules and habits of thinking on the basis of it is required. Then ethical practice, it is performed the moral imagination of invisible world, and is required moral behavior considering the interests of society as a whole. To this end, a respect for others based on citizenship and a mutual recognition of community spirit, and virtue, such as courtesy and discretion, care, should be exerted. Today, in our society social community has the potentiality that is to complement the existing problems of the traditional community and to be converted into democratic civil society. The openness and flexibility of social communities can overcome the cronyism. Relationships and reciprocity of social communities can be overcome authoritarianism and collectivism. Our society has a high level of IT skills and social system, which can support such a strong sense of community spirit and harmony Now we should be sought a harmonious and balanced ethical ideal ought and actual cultural values based on relationships and reciprocity in the social communities and the process of consensus building, so that development of normative acts of social community, ensure smooth communication, and social community leadership

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between virtue and vocation in Aristotle. For Aristotle, by virtues that individuals could possess only when they should persistently try to do right actions, the main goal of happiness will be realized. Fundamentally, happiness, to use his words, is the virtuous activity of the soul. Above all, he emphasized that individual acts and practices must have the same target of the mean, the middle between the excess and the deficient. At the moment the notion of virtue in his view is formed in the process of any practices to be continuous and to be a guide in actions. When any workers who try to get the mean do their jobs in their own positions, therefore, his conception of virtue can be contributed to make them flexible and excellent by coping with diverse situations in reality. The labour of slaves in the ancient Greek society, in Aristotle’s view, is one of the significant elements to make an embodiment of his community as the ideal of virtue. Before any attempt to criticize his notion of slavery in terms of contemporary notions, for example, of equally human rights, it seems impossible that he could claim its abolition; but he obviously lived in the slavery, which might make him undeniable of the labour of slaves. Rather, it is more plausible that their labours in his mind be seen as one of the parts of the society. In that, Aristotle asserted, individuals have to have their own position by virtuous excellence harmonized with natural abilities, it is reasonable that the labour of slaves in his ideal community is also a process of the realization of their abilities. Aristotle made the conception of virtue widespread, involving different statues, classes, workers, the types of occupations, and so on. According to his view, to exercise and cultivate individual virtues for the mean in each own position is directly connected with the self-recognition that each worker is a moral subject who can fulfil each excellence by doing his or her job, lead a happy life, and be one of the resources of the final goal of the community. In conclusion, it must be the only evidence of the desirable feature of happiness, Aristotle reasserted, that workers’ abilities by virtue are actualized in the different types of occupations and in different statues. For him, without community it is impossible for each individual to pursue any goal of happiness, for human beings is a being that is naturally living in any communities. This means that happiness of individual is the exact same as that of community and that individual happiness can be developed only in the activity of community. Therefore, Aristotle’s ideal of virtue ethics in dealing with the aspect of vocations in the ancient Greek society can be considered as an essential endeavour to establish the desirable community in which individuals get their own jobs and cultivate virtues nearer to the mean for a whole life.

In the closed relation to political and social unification, the cultural unification between North and South Korea is also to consider a possib le connection with the unification method of the Korean nation. In this course, education aims to the universal ideal of democracy, the respec t of humanity, the realization of personality, the development of the se lf, and traditional culture to investigate the possibility of harmony and unification between them. Concerning the possibility of the cultural unification, There are som e elements to be in its block: confucian culture, language, the recogniti on of Juche to traditions, the Pyongyang-centered recognition of history and cultural policies. However, North Korea is encouraged to need th e mutual cooperation based on classical and cultural inheritance, wheth er or not it want to represent the revolutionary inheritance and policie s. This means that traditional and cultural practices are the key path t o be unified between North and South Korea. In conclusion, to make any attempt to unify in Korea is basically t o understand the meanings of cultural traditions, to extend cultural exc hange, and to establish the foundation of the identity of Korean betwe en North and South Korea as one of road maps of cultural unification.

Although there are a lot of worries and disputes about biomedical enhancement, biomedical enhancements are already here and more on the way. Here we should not blindly follow biomedical enhancement praxis, and also should not unquestioningly dissent from biomedical enhancement praxis. A lot of discussion about biomedical enhancement bases on the false sense of biomedical enhancement. In order to correct understanding of the biomedical enhancement, it must be show that human desire of enhancement is not new, the history of human begins with the history of enhancement. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between enhancement and unequality, namely whether biomedical enhancement would narrow the gab between the rich and poor or not. And most people are worry about enhancement will belong to the art of eugenics. But eugenics could not be identified with enhancement. They have many difference between them.

It is 30 to 40 years since meat-eating in Korea scored the rapid increase. The increase of meat-eating has incurred a variety of issues such as adult diseases, animal rights, animal welfare-rights, environmental pollution, and hunger. In the Western world, vegetarians are normally categorized into the Vegan, Lacto-vegetarian, Lacto-ovo Vegetarian, Pescatarian, and Semi-vegetarian, but far more complicate and diverse classifications are put into use these days. Thus, vegetarianism in Korea needs to be classified again reflecting the real situation of Korea. Human beings eat animals and plants to live. In regard of eating animals, controversies have been raised from the perspective of utilitarianism over animal’s right to live, animal rights, and the like. Korea has traditional practices that respect animals’ life as well. Eating plants also can be an issue of ethical controversy, if not that serious as with animals, in that both are the same living things. Buddhist doctrine solved the problem by concluding that plants do not belong to sentient being because they stay outside of samsara(transmigrationofsouls), whileanimalsbelongtosentientbeings. Over vegetarianism, theories of Fundamental Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism are not consistent. Buddhism has suggested until now a variety of expediencies/measures on vegetarianism. Among the practical measures to put vegetarianism into action are the Middle Way, observance of Precepts, practice of Wisdom and Compassion, and establishment of organic relationships between vegetarianism and ecology. Vegetarianism is a way to restore the ecology. On vegetarianism, Buddhism should make its ethical position even clearer and engage in social movements more actively.