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Directed altruistic living donation : what is wrong with the beauty contest?
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Moorlock, Greg (2015) Directed altruistic living donation : what is wrong with the beauty contest? Journal of Medical Ethics, 41 (11). pp. 875-879. doi:10.1136/medethics-2014-102230 ISSN 0306-6800.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2014-102230
Abstract
This paper explores the specific criticism of directed altruistic living organ donation that it creates a ‘beauty contest’ between potential recipients of organs. The notion of the beauty contest in transplantation was recently used by Neidich et al who stated that ‘altruism should be the guiding motivation for all donations, and when it is, there is no place for a beauty contest{\textquoteright}. I examine this beauty contest objection from two perspectives. First, I argue that, when considered against the behaviour of donors, this objection cannot be consistently raised without also objecting to other common aspects of organ donation. I then explore the beauty contest objection from the perspective of recipients, and argue that if the beauty contest is objectionable, it is because of a tension between recipient behaviour and the altruism that supposedly underpins the donation system. I conclude by briefly questioning the importance of this tension in light of the organ shortage.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics R Medicine > RD Surgery |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Social Science & Systems in Health (SSSH) Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Donation of organs, tissues, etc. -- Moral and ethical aspects, Altruism | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Medical Ethics | ||||||
Publisher: | BMJ Group | ||||||
ISSN: | 0306-6800 | ||||||
Official Date: | 30 June 2015 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 41 | ||||||
Number: | 11 | ||||||
Page Range: | pp. 875-879 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1136/medethics-2014-102230 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 9 February 2017 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 9 February 2017 | ||||||
Funder: | Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC), Arts & Humanities Research Council (Great Britain) (AHRC), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Great Britain), Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (Great Britain) | ||||||
Grant number: | ES/ M00354X/1 (ESRC) |
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