HEAD TRANSPLANTS: FROM REVERIE TO REALITY

In the past, head transplantation used to be an imagination mostly narrated in folklore. However, nowadays with the advancement in science it is possible that soon head transplant might be feasible. It promises to be a boon to individuals who suffer from a terminal disease but have a healthy brain. Fear and skepticism over surgical, ethical and psychosocial issues do exist in the community over it but recently, the first cephalosomatic anastomosisperformed in a human model confirms the possibility of such a procedure in near future. What remains unanswered though is the outcome of such a crazy procedure.

The phenomenon of Canavero

Modern medical technologies raise the problems of the relationship between man and society, medical workers and patients. The ethical problems of medical technologies are nowhere so clearly defi ned as in the established practices of organ donation and transplantation. The project of a head transplant, widely represented in the media recently, raises a number of critical questions to the medical community. The article explores the ethical issues raised by the presentation in the media sphere the project of human head transplantation and risks for current transplant practice.

“頭”與“身”: 可易乎？——中國古代故事中的頭身關係探討

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.2017 年開展的換頭術引發社會各界關注和談論。本文嘗試對中國古代文獻資料中提及的有關頭身分離後重聯的故事進行整理研究，以探討中國文化中的頭身關係及其與現代換頭術之間的關聯和倫理衝突。筆者使用資料庫檢索獲取文獻，經過人工篩選納入符合本研究的故事。精讀後分組，歸納各組案例的特色並與換頭術進行比較研究。通過四組故事分析後，可見其綜合體現了中國傳統信仰中的魂魄觀、傳統哲學中的形神觀、傳統中國醫學中“心主神明”的觀念以及中國中古外科手術的狀況。而當代換頭術即使獲得技術的成功也更加需要回應文化、倫理的拷問。A head transplant is an experimental surgical operation involving the grafting of one organism’s head onto the body of another. Since 2017, with the announcement of the Heaven project, the possibility of head transplantation has raised public concern and caused heated ethical debate in China. This essay approaches the discussion from the perspective of the relationship between the head and the body in ancient Chinese literature. The study highlights the traditional Chinese belief in the unity of corporeality and spirituality, with the human mind viewed as the foundational element of personal identity. The essay also interprets stories involving head removal and head transplantation from the perspective of medical ethics today.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 68 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

受苦的心識——從大乘佛教觀點看頭顱移植

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.近幾年，“換頭術”或頭顱移植的倫理問題被炒得沸沸揚揚。據意大利神經外科專家賽吉爾．卡納維羅宣佈，2018 年頭顱移植將在活人身上實施。曾經的“天堂計劃”眼看成為現實。但是這項新的生命支持技術到底該不該存在、它的存在是不是符合倫理道德倫理，還有待進一步探討。本文試圖從大乘佛教的思想，根據佛教對認識、死亡、因果律等問題的看法，討論佛教對“換頭術”以及科技醫療等議題的看法。作者認為，像“換頭術”這樣的現代科技與佛教的基本倫理思想存在著不可融合的矛盾。譬如，淨土宗對人死與腦死的區分導致教徒認為“換頭術”或器官移植術，包括腦移植術會使死者因強烈的痛苦生嗔惱，因而障礙死者的往生過程。In recent years, “head replacement” or head transplantation has become a controversial issue in medical ethics. The Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero announced that a head transplantation would be carried out in 2018, intensifying debate on medico-technological methods. This essay addresses the issue from the perspective of Mahayana Buddhism, using Buddhist ideas such as consciousness, brain death, karma, and compassion to discuss the incompatibility of modern technology with Buddhist ethics and beliefs. For instance, many Buddhists, Pure Land believers in particular, hold the view that the consciousness does not immediately leave a body pronounced dead. The removal of the head or a connected organ (such as the brain) from a “dead” person might thus be perceived as problematic in interrupting the final journey of rebirth.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 168 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.