Qiu Renzong (邱仁宗, c. 1933) is a Chinese

bioethicist Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethics, ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biolo ...

. He is a senior research fellow emeritus at China's Institute of Philosophy, and chair of the Academic Committee at the Centre for Bioethics at

Peking Union Medical College Peking Union Medical College, also as Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, is a national public medical sciences research institution in Dongcheng, Beijing, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. Originally founded in 1906, it is affiliated with the Nationa ...

."Ethics prize goes to Chinese scientist"
''SciDevNet'', 12 January 2010.
"Professor Renzong Qiu receives the 2009 Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science at UNESCO"
UNESCO, 11 December 2009. ''China Daily'' writes that he is regarded as the scholar who 30 years ago introduced bioethics to China. Qiu published a paper in 2002 arguing for the recognition in China of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

, and introducing the idea of

speciesism Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions. Some specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an indivi ...

. He argued in favour of a

gradualist Gradualism, from the Latin ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps. Uniformitarianism, incrementalism, and ...

approach to the recognition of rights, rejecting the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

approach as unrealistic. His paper was criticized by Zhao Nanyuan, a professor at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

, who wrote that animal rights arguments are foreign ideas and are "anti-humanity." Qiu was awarded the 2009

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Avicenna Prize The Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science is awarded every two years by UNESCO and rewards individuals and groups in the field of ethics in science. The aim of the award is to promote ethical reflection on issues raised by advances in science an ...

for Ethics in Science and he shared the Hastings Center's Henry Knowles Beecher Award with Solomon R. Benatar in 2011.

Selected works

*''Bioethics: Asian Perspectives: A Quest for Moral Diversity''. Springer, 2004.

Notes

Living people Animal rights scholars Academic staff of Peking Union Medical College Bioethicists 20th-century Chinese philosophers 21st-century Chinese philosophers Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of Avicenna Prize {{animal-rights-stub

Selected works

See also

Notes