佛教與生物科技

　　Buddhism and Biotechnology

　　法界宗教研究院研究教授 舊金山州立大學哲學系講師易象幹博士講于AHIMSA第六屆年會：

　　主題「吾人科技之未來發展及其對宗教精神的影響

　　一九九八年十月叁日柏克萊加州大學國際學舍

　　By Ron Epstein, Ph.D. Research Professor, Institute for World Religions,

　　Berkeley; Lecturer, Philosophy Department, San Francisco State University

　　Edited from a Talk Delivered at "Spiritual Dimensions of Our Technological Future," AHIMSA* Sixth Annual Conference, International House, University of California at Berkeley, Oct. 3,1998.

　　張福麟 中譯 Chinese translation by Fu-lin Chang

　　這次討論會的主題是「生物科技——宗教精神發展上之福星或煞星」。現在人常說我們是處于生物世紀的開端，而且相信各位都很清楚地了解基因工程在許多方面--經濟上、政治上、科學上，尤其是醫藥及環境上，將使地球的生活改頭換面。對我們全體而言最重要的是這不可思議的科技與人類宗教精神本質的關系。雖然市面上有大量生物科技的著作問世，但是很少涉及于生物科技，尤其是基因工程與人類宗教精神上的關系。

　　The topic of this panel is "Biotechnology: Boon or Bane for Spiritual Development." It has very often been said that we are on the threshold of the biotech century, and I am sure that all of you are very clearly aware that genetic engineering is going to totally reshape life on this planet in many ways: eco-nomically, politically, scientifically--particularly in terms of medicine, and also environmentally. Most important for all of us is what the relationship of this incredible technology will be to the spiritual nature of human beings. Although an enor-mous amount has been written on biotechnology, very little has been written about the relationship between biotechnology, particularly genetic engineering, and the human spirit.

　　本人願指出基因工程在兩方面，正深遠地影響著我們全體的生活：

　　Allow me to mention two ways in which genetic engineering is profoundly affecting all of our lives.

　　第一是美國政府目前正在考慮是否允許醫學家插手改變人類遺傳的基因，也就是說，去設法改變人類基因的結構，而遺傳于後世。這表示傳統的人類進化方式即將結束。將來我們不但要接管人類進化的責任，而且還要接管其他各種在地球上的衆生；包括有情及無情之進化的責任。

　　First, at this very moment, the United States government is considering a request for medical scientists to intervene in the germline of human genetics, in other words, to change the human genetic structure in a way that would be transmitted to future generations. This means that human evolution in its traditional meaning is coming to an end. We will be taking over responsibility, not only for the evolution of human beings, but also for the evolution of many other forms of life on the planet, both sentient and nonsentient.

　　第二是基因工程直接地影響我們的生命，也就是將基因工程用于生物戰，幸運的是目前尚未付諸行動。當我現在演講時，許多國家的政府，可能也包括一些恐怖份子的組織，都在積極地設法將經過基因工程製造出來的微生物用于戰爭方面。

　　The second way in which of genetic engineering is directly touching our lives, that fortunately, insofar as we are aware, is not yet operational, is the use of genetic engineering in biowarfare. As I am speaking, many governments are actively working on the use of genetically engineered organisms in biowarfare, and presumably so too are terrorist organizations.These are two things, which are part of the "promise" of this new biotech century, that we are going to have to be dealing with in the immediate future.

　　上述兩點就是新紀元生物科技所許下的諾言中，我們必須應對處理的兩樁事情。

　　我們的思想體系是我們看問題的鏡片，其有助于調整焦距，可以澄清，或許也會扭曲我們如何去看問題。待會泰德‧彼得斯教授和瑪格麗特‧麥克琳教授會主要從天主教的思想體系來談論；休斯頓‧史密斯教授已經說明「科學至上主義」是我們文化中最有勢力的思想體系，兩者都未涉及一系列完整廣泛的重要思想體系。身爲佛教學者及行者，我想簡單扼要地介紹一下佛教的思想體系，對基因工程的關系中一些特殊的要點。

　　Paradigms are lenses through which we see issues that aid focusing, clarifying, and perhaps also distorting how we look at issues. Professor Ted Peters and Professor Margaret McLean are both going to be talking primarily from Christian paradigms. Professor Huston Smith has already mentioned Scientism as the dominant paradigm of our culture. That still leaves a whole wide range of important paradigms. As both a Buddhist scholar and practitioner, I would like to briefly introduce some distinctive features of the Buddhist paradigm”s relation to genetic engineering.

　　佛教的思想體系有四方面與最有勢力的科學至上主義不大相同，與基督教之思想體系，亦在多方面都不很相同。第一面，我要提出的是「Ahimsa(不傷生)」。這對我們今天在這兒集會尤其合適。Ahimsa‧‧就是不傷生，即是尊敬生命內在價值之原則；尊敬…

《佛教與生物科技 Buddhism and Biotechnology》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…