Self-ownership, relational dignity, and organ sales.

Clicks: 350
ID: 51254
2018
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Abstract
Material property has traditionally been conceived of as separable from its owner and thus alienable in an exchange. So it seems that you could sell your watch or even your kidney because it can be removed from your wrist or abdomen and transferred to another. However, if we are each identical to a living human animal, self-ownership is impossible for self-separation is impossible. We thus cannot sell our parts if we don't own the whole that they compose. It would be incoherent to own all of your body's parts but not the whole body; and it would be arbitrary to own some but not all of your removable parts. These metaphysical obstacles to organ sales do not apply to the selling of the organs of the deceased. The human being goes out of existence at death and is not identical to the body's remains. Any objections to selling the organs of the deceased must instead be due to dignity rather than metaphysical or conceptual considerations. But the remains lack the intrinsic dignity of the human being, instead possessing, at best, relational dignity. Relational dignity would not provide sufficient reason to prohibit life-saving sales.
Reference Key
hershenov2018selfownershipbioethics Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Hershenov, David;
Journal bioethics
Year 2018
DOI
10.1111/bioe.12457
URL
Keywords
property relational dignity self-ownership

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