Caring for parents: a consequentialist approach

Sin, Wai Lam William

doi:10.1007/s11019-015-9668-z

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…First, it is easier to inculcate or to internalize the moral demands to assist one’s own parents’ lives than to save strangers’ lives. As children are born with strong instincts to protect their parents, the “costs of internalizing strong filial obligations among children will be lower than what we might initially expect” (Sin, 2016, pp. 6-9).…”

Section: Criticism Of the Rule-consequentialist Approach Of Filial Ob...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to William Sin (2016), we may understand the demand of filial obligations from the perspective of rule consequentialism. Sin distinguishes two kinds of filial obligations: a moderate view and an extreme view, or also called a strong view.…”

Section: Criticism Of the Rule-consequentialist Approach Of Filial Ob...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, when social utility and parents’ benefits are in conflict, consequentialism may demand adult children to forgo the duty of taking care of their parents or to take up a less demanding view of filial obligations. Indeed, Sin (2016, pp. 7-9) admits that according to rule consequentialism, we may promote weak filial obligations in society in which the percentage of young people is much higher than that of the old and thus the demand for being cared for is lower and thus adult children can have greater freedom.…”

Section: Criticism Of the Rule-consequentialist Approach Of Filial Ob...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Family caring for the elderly during the pandemic in Hong Kong: perspective from Confucian familism

Hung

2022

PAP

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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to argue for the values of familial caring and relationships in addition to the provision of social media technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachThe discussion of this paper has adopted an inter-disciplinary approach by integrating health care system and psychological analysis, based on cultural philosophical argument through the hermeneutic approach of classical texts and critical analysis.FindingsThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dilemma between the public health measures for COVID-19 and sustaining elderly social psychological health through familial connection. From a Confucian perspective, the practice of filial piety (xiao, 孝), which demands taking care of parents, is essential for one’s moral formation, and for one’s becoming a virtuous (ren, 仁) person. The necessity of taking care of elderly parents by adult children is not something that can be explained in terms of consequentialism. Indeed, the rising trend of instrumental rationality seems to weaken rather than strengthen the sense of filial obligation. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic which tends to separate connections between family members, the author argues that we should emphasize the values of familial caring and relationship because it enhances the elderly’s characteristic of resilience.Originality/valueThis paper shows that while social media technology has mitigated the negative effect of social distancing, such online relationships should never replace the bodily connections between the elderly and their family members from a Confucian perspective.

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Section: Criticism Of the Rule-consequentialist Approach Of Filial Ob...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Criticism Of the Rule-consequentialist Approach Of Filial Ob...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Criticism Of the Rule-consequentialist Approach Of Filial Ob...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Family caring for the elderly during the pandemic in Hong Kong: perspective from Confucian familism

Hung

2022

PAP

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“…They are the immediate beneficiaries of a strong principle of filial obligation. Even if some parents are not able to live to an old age, the promotion of the strong principle of filial obligation will still benefit them: in their 40s, 50s, and 60s they will live with the assurance that their children will take care of them when they become old (Sin , 7).…”

Section: A Rule‐consequentialist Explanation Of the Confucian Demandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confucianism, Rule‐Consequentialism, and the Demands of Filial Obligations

Sin¹

2019

Journal of Religious Ethics

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Why should I take care of my aging parents? How far will morality require me to sacrifice for this cause? I will study these questions from the perspectives of Confucianism and rule‐consequentialism. Confucians believe that the continuity of families and the interactions between members of different generations can enhance the integrity of society in the long run. However, since Confucianism may impose extreme demands on its followers, this theory may be problematic. In this paper, I argue that despite its demands, the Confucian doctrines are defensible and are worth upholding. To explain my view, I draw upon rule‐consequentialism and explain how the rule‐consequentialist analysis complements and enhances the Confucian claims. I believe that the consequentialist conception of Confucianism can provide a useful resource for responding to the moral challenge of population aging in the current state of the world.

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“…In the last few decades, much attention has been paid to questions related to such obligations. 3,4 One reason behind this might be that the world’s population is ageing, 5 which means that questions about the proper treatment of the elderly people who, owing to illness or disability, are unable to live independently and who need assistance to meet their needs, assume ever greater importance. In addition, an ageing population also poses a challenge on the health and social care systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What should adult children do for their parents?

2020

Nurs Ethics

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Adult children’s particular obligations to their parents are filial obligations. The gratitude of filial obligations that treats one’s filial obligations as duties of gratitude to one’s parents is a mainstream view. However, in terms of the requirements of such obligations, the gratitude account fails to provide practical guidance. The general requirement seems that children should benefit their parents as the beneficiary should benefit the benefactor. The question is what kinds of benefits adult children should provide to their parents? In some cases, adult children feel obligated to provide particular benefits to their parents like paying their medical bills or spending time with them. While in some other cases, it seems that they can use their own discretion to decide how to satisfy the filial obligations so long as what they do benefits their parents. In this article, I am trying to argue that although the general requirement of the filial obligations is to benefit the parents, there are two kinds of benefits that adult children are strongly obligated to provide. These are special goods that parents can only get from their children and things that meet their parents’ basic needs. In addition, although adult children have filial obligations to benefit their parents, there should be some limitations on the requirements of filial obligation. Namely, adult children do not have a filial obligation to meet their parents’ desires that could only be satisfied at the cost of adult children’s liberty related to significant aspects of their lives, or to meet their parents’ desires that could only be satisfied at the cost of infringing their capacity to fulfil other important duties.

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Caring for parents: a consequentialist approach

Cited by 4 publications

References 25 publications

Family caring for the elderly during the pandemic in Hong Kong: perspective from Confucian familism

Family caring for the elderly during the pandemic in Hong Kong: perspective from Confucian familism

Confucianism, Rule‐Consequentialism, and the Demands of Filial Obligations

What should adult children do for their parents?

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