生命倫理 (Bioethics) 的觀念一直以為是美國的學者Van　Potter　在1970 年所提出。最近歷史的考證，發現生命倫理的呼籲早於　1927 年德國思想家費茲‧雅爾 (Fritz Jahr) 博士就為文呼求。本文將簡述雅爾的根本思想，並以中國傳統的理念加以討論介紹之。

The term "Bioethics" has been known as being coined by Dr. Van Potter of USA in 1970. But the recent new research has discovered that the term had actually been used by Dr. Fritz Jahr of Germany as early as 1927. Dr. Jahr appealed that ethics cannot only be about human relations, but should be extended to all living beings therefore he used a new word "bio-ethics" to describe his thought. This article will introduce his basic thinking and since his bioethics reflects much similar teachings of ancient Chinese philosophers, thus a comparison between the two will be attempted.