「胚胎的生命權與道德地位」是人類胚胎幹細胞研究日益開放所致的重要倫理議題，此倫理爭議須逐一就「人類與胚胎」道德地位，以及「自主權利與生命權利」在道德權利上個別獨立概念和關係脈絡作詳細分析，才能精確說明「胚胎幹細胞研究」行為的道德判斷。因此，本文在研究中除了釐清「胚胎」「價值」與生命「權利」的爭議外，還提出辛格及沃倫論述有關胚胎道德地位的觀點，並對其不足提出儒家觀點之修正調整建議。 首先，針對辛格依據感知能力及人格個體來判斷，胚胎沒有感知能力也就沒有道德地位，但依胚胎具潛能性及人之生命神聖性（the sanctity of life）來看，胚胎似乎又具有很高的道德地位。其次，沃倫是以「人格」特徵作為「胚胎」是否為「人格個體」的必要條件而非充分條件來證成自己的論證。因為沒有單一判準能夠說明清楚所有相關之考量，只有道德地位的多重判準可避免扭曲人們所見之道德常識。但沃倫之多重判準也沒有給胚胎以合理的地位。 最後，本文運用儒家觀點中的人格理論，確立任一具有「道德人格」的行動者應能體現「不忍人之心」的道德實踐，所以胚胎的道德地位可經由該道德行動者依其道德人格所具有的「人之所以為人」的道德表現，得以充分確立並使之成為有效且合理的道德參考判準，以解決「胚胎幹細胞研究」的倫理爭議。最後，本文陳明在胚胎幹細胞研究技術革新之同時，法規制度面能與時調整，同時也能尋求胚胎幹細胞研究外之替代方案以資因應，倫理面亦能省思兼顧，以求胚胎幹細胞之研究，能夠真正造福人類，提昇生活品質與生命價值，即是本研究期望能達成的最終目的。 The important ethical issues of the life right to life and morals status of the embryo are trickered by the fast progress of human embryonic stem cells research. These ethical disputes must be analyzed in greater details in order to make a proper judgment of the practice of embryonic stem cell research. Therefore, this thesis first gives an analysis of the terms and concepts involved in the debate. It presents Peter Singer’s argument against the thesis of sanctity of life and Mary Anne Warren’s criteria of personhood. Both are single criterion for moral status and criticized by the latter Warren as inadequate to cover the diverse field of moral status. Warren proposes a multi-criteria account of moral status, but offers insufficient status to embryos in accordance with our moral experience. A Confucian proposal is put forward to mitigate some of its pitfalls. According to Confucianism we are endowed with a natural concern of the sufferings of others. Thus, a person is a moral agent and must act morally according to her feeling towards the suffering of others. The moral status of embryo can thus be established by the moral expression of humanity from the moral agency so that it becomes sufficient and reasonable to place proper moral judgment in embryonic stem cells research. We express the hope that laws and regulations could be adjusted in time while new technology is innovated in embryonic stem cells research. At the same time, we also seek alterative methods for the development of stem cell lines to avoid the destruction of embryos in the process. Then the research of embryonic stem cells could promote the value and quality of human life.
