On The Ethical Think Of Family Service For The Aged

The way of family services for the aged is generally accepted in the world. There are three thoughts on it in our country: 1) the theory of feeling, 2) theory of family, 3) theory of way to serve. Although they illustrate from different sides the family service for the aged, there is a certain oneness in their theory. Yao'yuan thinks that it is a culture and operation mode for the families to support the aged, and therefore his theory is adopted in this paper. It is not only a behavior way but also a reflection of the culture because this thought precisely generalized the basic characteristics of the family service for the aged. The long history of family service for the aged has a process of forming, developing, strengthening, changing, modernizing. It was a traditional family service from the dynasty of earlier Ch'in to the eve of Opium War, and from the Opium War to the foundation of new China, the traditional thoughts being impacted, family service for the aged was in the period of changing. We can know that the ethical thought of traditional family service for the aged is traditional and filial when we study its operating characteristics and the whole trending development.Filial piety properly is the basic principle and criterion to adjust generation relations, but it is gradually developing into, with the feudal governing class advocating and strengthening, a universal society theory, and further into an absolute simple extent to bring about many kinds of silly filial pieties.The new and modern ethic of the family service for the aged is produced on the foundation of criticizing and inheriting the traditional filial piety. The main ethical thought of modern family service for the aged is humanitarianism and equity. The basic meaning of humanitarianism principle of the family service for the aged is that the families provide support for the aged on the precondition of respecting one' value and rights in order to love one's life and happiness. The...