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Commodification of human tissue
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Widdows, Heather, Marway, Herjeet and Johnson, Sarah-Louise (2014) Commodification of human tissue. In: ten Have, Henk A.M.J. and Gordijn, Bert, (eds.) Handbook of Global Bioethics. Springer, pp. 581-598. ISBN 9789400725119
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Abstract
Commodification is a broad and crosscutting issue that spans debates in ethics (from prostitution to global market practices) and bioethics (from the sale of body parts to genetic enhancement). There has been disagreement, however, over what constitutes commodification, whether it is happening, and whether it is of ethical import. This chapter focuses on one area of the discussion in bioethics – the commodification of human tissue – and addresses these questions – about the characteristics of commodification, its pervasiveness, and ethical significance – in order to clarify and map the commodificatory debate.The chapter does this in three parts. First, it defines commodification as the shift from “persons” to “things” and from “relationships” to services for “contract.” Second, using examples of kidney and gamete sale and commercial surrogacy, it argues that commodification is rife in bioethics. Third, it contends that commodification is an ethical problem for three key reasons: First, because it leads to exploitation; second, because some things should not be for sale; and third, because it damages social goods. The chapter concludes that commodification and commodificatory practices should be resisted.
Item Type: | Book Item | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||
Publisher: | Springer | ||||
ISBN: | 9789400725119 | ||||
Book Title: | Handbook of Global Bioethics | ||||
Editor: | ten Have, Henk A.M.J. and Gordijn, Bert | ||||
Official Date: | 2014 | ||||
Dates: |
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Page Range: | pp. 581-598 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1007/978-94-007-2512-6_104 | ||||
Status: | Not Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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