Bodies for sale : ethics and exploitation in the human body trade / Stephen Wilkinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilkinson, Stephen, 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sale of organs, tissues, etc.

Bioethical Issues.

Ethics, Business.

Human Rights.

Tissue and Organ Procurement--ethics.

Patents as Topic--ethics.

Surrogate Mothers.

Medical Subjects:

Bioethical Issues.

Ethics, Business.

Human Rights.

Tissue and Organ Procurement--ethics.

Patents as Topic--ethics.

Surrogate Mothers.

Physical Description:

xi, 248 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2003.

Summary:

Bodies for Sate: Ethics and Explpitation in the Human Body Trade explotes the philosophical and practical issues raised by activities such as suttogacy and orgae trafficking. Stephen Wilkinson asks what it is that makes some commercial uses of the body controversial, whether the arguments against commercial exploitation stand up, and whether legislation outlawing such practices is really justified. In Part One Wilkinson explains and analyses some of the notoriously slippery concepts used in the body commodification debate, including exploitation, ham, and consent. In Part Two he focuses on three controversial issues (the buying and selling of human kidneys, commercial surrogacy, and DNA patenting) outlining contemporary regulation and investigating both the moral issues and the arguments for legal prohibition. Combining philosophical analysis with a detailed examination of current practice. Bodies for Sale is a comprehensive introduction to the ethics of body commodification and will be of interest to students of philosophy, politics, and law as well as anyone with a serious interest in healthcare ethics and policy.

Contents:

1.1 Concepts 1

1.2 Practices 2

Part I Concepts 7

2 Exploitation 9

2.2 Wrongful use and disparity of value 13

2.3 Benefit 16

2.4 Use 21

3 Objectification, exploitation, and commodification 27

3.2 Kantian underpinnings 28

3.3 Wrongful use exploitation 33

3.4 Treating people as ends-in-themselves 35

3.5 What's wrong with using people as means? 37

3.6 The displacement thesis 39

3.7 Using persons, contexts, and relationships 40

3.9 Commodification, fungibility, and dignity 45

3.10 Uniqueness 49

3.11 Bodies and persons 52

4 Harm 56

4.1 Mutually advantageous exploitation? 57

4.2 Harm to interests 59

4.3 Relevant baselines 60

4.4 Omissive harm 64

4.5 Moral harm 68

5 Consent 72

5.1 Absent consent and defective consent 72

5.2 Valid consent 75

5.3 Consensual exploitation? 78

6 Coercion 82

6.1 Introducing coercion 82

6.2 Descriptive or normative? 85

6.3 Threats and offers 90

Part II Practices 99

7 Organs for sale 101

7.1 Contemporary regulation and practice 104

7.2 Harm 107

7.3 Altruism 109

7.4 Inducements and consent 116

7.5 Coercion 126

7.6 Exploitation 130

8 Babies for sale? 134

8.1 Contemporary regulation and practice 137

8.2 Is commercial surrogacy baby selling? 143

8.3 The welfare of the child 149

8.4 Exploitation 159

8.5 Consent 163

8.6 Commodification 174

9 Patenting life 182

9.1 What are the issues? 183

9.2 Biopiracy 188

9.3 Contemporary regulation and practice 191

9.4 Practical and utilitarian arguments 199

9.5 Deontological objections 207.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 222-245) and index.

ISBN:

0415266246

0415266254

OCLC:

50868189