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Updated: Oct 10, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
[Narrative Ethicsfrom the Three Attributes of Life: Conceptual Analysis and Principle Construction]
Wei Jia-Rui1, L I Fei1, Zhang Xin-Qing1
1School of Marxism & School of Humanities and Social Sciences,Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College,Beijing 100730,China.
Abstract:
The emergence of narrative medicine offers new possibilities for the research of bioethics.This paper proposes the concept of "life narrative ethics" and uses the three life attributes-natural life,spiritual life,and social life-as an analytical framework to reveal the ethical demands of life narratives in the finiteness of the physical body,the rupture of self-identity,and the transformation of social roles.On this basis,this paper distills four core principles:centering on life stories,dignity integration,interpretive humility,and reciprocal narrative relationships.These principles respectively establish the epistemological basis,value goals,attitude requirements,and practical approaches for ethical judgment.The applicability and explanatory power of these principles are analyzed through a case of a patient's death.This paper argues that life narrative ethics represents a progression from relational ethics to substantive value ethics,providing new theoretical tools and practical guidelines for medical practitioners to understand the patients' holistic lives and respond to their profound ethical demands.
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