- 期刊
預立遺囑－法學、生死學與宗教之科際整合產物
Pre-Making a will - an Product of Interdisciplinary study of Legal Science, Life and Death Studies and Religion
摘要
人對死亡的恐懼，緣自對死亡的無知。經驗告訴我們，人愈是對死亡無知，就愈會在死亡線上掙扎痛苦；家屬愈想規避談死，病人就愈會陷入死亡的恐懼陰影，或者無奈的孤獨境況。避談死亡的潛在心理因素，是將死亡視為一種威脅；然而若能真誠如實的，更深一層加以探究，將可發現，死亡並不必然是「威脅」，而是對於我們的一種「挑戰」。問題是在，我們如何面對死亡的挑戰，從而建立真實的人生；從這個角度，反觀末期患者必須經歷的過程，也是「生命成長最後階段」（精神生命的持續深化）的重要契機。更重要的是，如果平時就能透過對死亡議題的持續探究與了解，會使人更懂得珍惜人生，更知道生命的意義、責任和人性的慈愛之美；避免一輩子都未曾真正依照自己的本質好好過日子，只在死亡來臨前，才幡然醒悟、懊悔不及。當前社會我們常常看到，許多人遇到親人死亡，傷働尚未撫平之際，還在茫無頭緒中，尚要處理很多棘手的問題。如子女是否要拋棄繼承？（我國民法以限定繼承為原則，民法§1174：繼承人得拋棄其繼承權）遺產稅及遺產如何分配？是否採取土葬或火葬？告別式如何安排？甚至許多亡者，都來不及做最後的交代，或留下足以憑式的遺訓給子女，就撒手人寰，殊為可惜。預立遺囑（Pre-making a will，Pré-faisant un testament）乃是預先交代身後之事，一方面，對存者而言可減少糾紛；另一方面，對亡者而言，亦無所牽掛！然而，對於如何預立遺囑，交代身後事？其問所牽涉的層面甚廣（包括法律以及心理、心靈與宗教的問題），本文乃從法學（Legal Science，les Sciences juridiques）、宗教及生死學（Life and Death Studies，les Etudes á la vie et la mort）的科際整合觀點（interdisciplinary studies, les études interdisciplinaires），介紹預立遺囑的規範。
並列摘要
Humans' fear for death is caused by their ignorance of death. Our experience shows that the more people know about death, the little they suffer. Furthermore, terminal patients will be frightened by the shadow of death if their relations do away with the topic of death. Psychologically, people avoid talking about death and they see death as a kind of threat. However, death won't be a threat but a challenge if people will face it and further explore it. The problem will be how we face the challenge of death and realize the meaning of life. From this, we can take what terminal patients have experienced as the last stage of life growth (the deepening of everlasting spiritual life). The more important thing is that people will value their life, realize the meaning of life and understand their duties and human nature more if they continue to research and explore death. Then, they won't be awaken and regret just before death. In today's society, we can often find that many people need to deal with many thorny problems even before they overcome their bereavement when their loved ones die. For example, whether they need to abandon their inheritance rights? How to deal with inheritance taxes and prosperities? Whether the dead should be buried or cremated? How to arrange the funeral service? Many people even passed away without a written document, telling their children about their final wishes and it is really a pity. People can make sure their final wishes being realized by pre-making a will. In one way, it will avoid arguments for the surviving relations; in the other, it will honor the final wishes of the dead. How to pre-make a wish? It covers a wide range of issues (including legal, psychological, spiritual and religious questions). This paper aims to introduce the format of pre-making a will by conducting an inter-disciplinary study, covering Legal Science religion and Life and Death Studies.