Bodies for Sale: Ethics and Exploitation in the Human Body Trade / Edition 1

by Stephen Wilkinson

Overview

Bodies for Sale: Ethics and Exploitation in the Human Body Trade explores the philosophical and practical issues raised by activities such as surrogacy and organ trafficking. Stephen Wilkinson asks what is it 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, harm 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415266246
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen Wilkinson is Senior Lecturer in Ethics and Philosophy at Keele University. He has published widely on health care ethics and applied philosophy in journals including Bioethics, the Journal of Applied Philosophy, the Journal of Medical Ethics and Medical Law Review. In 1999 his article on mental illness won the Philosophical Quarterly International Essay Prize.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Exploitation 3. Objectification Exploitation and Commodification 4. Harm, 5. Consent 6. Coercion 7. Organs for Sale 8. Babies for Sale? 9. Patenting Life

Editorial Reviews

'A lucid and accessible introduction to some of the ethical issues surrounding the commodification of the human body...For students of ethics, this book should be of great interest and great use.' - Stephen Bates, Political Theory

' ... the conclusions in his book clarify questions concerning the rights and wrongs of using financial incentives as a means to solve problems in procuring organs for transplantation.' - Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy; A European Journal

'Bodies for Sale is a lucid and timely investigation into the moral and public policy dimensions of commercializing human organ sales and surrogacy arrangements, and the patenting of human and other life forms.' - Paul M. Hughes, The Journal of Value Inquiry

From the Publisher