The Eighth Asian Bioethics Conference

Biotechnology, Culture, and Human Values in Asia and Beyond

March 19-23, 2007, Century Park Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Buddhism and Bioethics

Convenor: Dr. Somparn Promta
Department of Philosophy and Center for Buddhist Studies,
Chulalongkorn University
Somparn.P@chula.ac.th

To be held with the Eighth Asian Bioethics Conference, 19 - 23 March, 2007, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

The advancements in modern biomedical research have given rise to a number of modern ethical issues. The world then needs various kinds of wisdom to handle these issues. Buddhism, as a religion and wisdom adopted in many Asian countries, is inevitably confronted with the questions of how it is going to respond to such issues as human cloning, the use of embryonic stem cell, genetic modification, and so on. The basic objective of the panel is to find out how Buddhist wisdom can provide a view on the issues mentioned above.

The following are the possible topics to be discussed in the panel:

• Theravaada Buddhist bioethics
• Mahaayaana Buddhist bioethics
• Buddhist bioethics
• The views and practices of Buddhists in any Buddhist country on bioethical issues
• Buddhism and the cloning of human beings
• Buddhism and the use of embryonic stem cell for medical purposes
• Buddhism and genetic research
• Buddhism and death
• Buddhism and the meaning of life
• Buddhism and abortion
• Buddhism and euthanasia
• Buddhism and other bioethical issues

Papers exploring any topic can be presented in various forms of academic disciplines such as sociological, religious, or philosophical study. Please send your paper proposals (no more than 2,500 words) to Dr. Somparn Promta, Convenor of the Panel. The deadline for submitting the paper abstracts or proposals is 30 November 2006.