Ethical Reflections On The Issue Of Chinese Family Providing For The Aged

At present, china is a country with most old people in the world, which accounts for one fifth of the total number of that of the world. The aging problem in China is becoming increasingly serious. How to provide for the aged has gradually come out as the focus of our society.This thesis suggests that parents should be looked after within their own family in accordance with Chinese cultural tradition, which is supposed to be dominant in solving this problem with the help of the whole society and we should make every endeavor to promote the building of the system of social providing the aged. This thesis first dealing with a further defining of family providing for parents, including the models and means of it. The models of it embody cultural patterns with certain stability, the nucleus of it being blood morality. The means of it is a kind of behavioral pattern or living style, without much stability. Looking after parents within a large family has long been a tradition in China, but under current situation of the age problem and reform and openness, this tradition is being challenged unprecedentedly. The function of looking after parents within a large family fades away unexpectedly. Therefore, safeguarding this fine tradition and protecting the legal rights of the aged has turned out to be a burning social problem now in China. In our country, social providing for the aged does make some contributions to this issue, but its disadvantages are clearly shown as follows: the function of it is monotonous; it does harm to the physical and mental health of the aged; a heavier burden due to a large population when changing into an aged society is sure to affect social investments and economic development; the funds of aging insurance is unstable due to the reform of social protection system and the backward economic conditions in rural areas will restrict the development of social providing for the aged. As a result, we solve the aging problem mainly through providing for parents in their own family and we do have the ethics foundation for this practice in China since we generally accept the ethics value of being falial and dutiful, which embodies blood value, the nucleus of family providing for the aged culture. This common ethics value of being falial and dutiful therefore turns out to be the ethical and cultural foundation of ensuring the functioning of family providing for the aged, while the "ethics responsibility" of the elder generation on the young generation becomes the practical ethical and cultural foundation which prolongs family providing for the aged. Thus, family providing for the aged is in accordance with Chinese cultural tradition.In the final analysis, the thesis deals with some ethics strategies of providing the aged in China by analyzing some overseas models and making clear the differences and similarity between these models, including their problems and trend of development, which will facilitate the building of our own system. Considering our current situation, the best way is to combine family providing with social providing, in which family plays a more important role, and make great efforts to promote the building of a social providing system on the basis of encouraging the aged to provide for themselves and family providing. It is also necessary for us to consolidate the changing of providing from an ethics type to a legal type, laying emphasis on the duty and obligation of family providing, thus stabilizing the function family providing in system. Meanwhile, we should create a favorable atmosphere of love and respect for the aged and guarantee the aged a peaceful life in a cozy family and harmonious social environment.